Soulmates
by Pandahhh
Summary: Emma and Stiles have been through so much together. This summer, they were supposed to take time a part. But when an alpha pack comes to town and they both start keeping secrets, will they be able to mend their broken relationship? Book 3 of The Hybrid series. Takes place during Season 3A/3B. Rated M for mature content and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**We're back!**

 **I am so excited for this book.**

 **I am taking a bit of a different approach with this so stick with me. I really want to bend the story a little bit, obviously not too much because it truly is a great season. However, Stiles is going to be more of a fuckboy than I think he is in literally any season. Fuckboy Stiles is my most favorite thing in the world so it's happening. Also, obviously Stydia moments will be fewer because Stemma is the main focus. There will also be a lot more of Emma and Stiles' thoughts throughout this story.**

 **Like always, I love your feedback.**

 **Please enjoy book 3 of The Hybrid series!**

 **I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"Dude, I thought you stopped with all that?" Scott asked as he got into the Jeep.

I looked up at him with my eyes narrowed, "It just came across my feed."

He rolled his eyes but dropped it. This was how it had been this summer. Me constantly checking social media, specifically Emma's, to see if anything new had happened. All that got me was anger issues and a lot of drunken nights. And a bunch of hookups that kind of went hand-in-hand with the drunken nights.

It seemed like everyday Emma was doing something new and awesome with her new best friend. Her Instagram was filled with pictures from her summer in London. Pictures of her and Seth in front of Big Ben, the London Eye, some museum, and the Eiffel tower on a trip to Paris. It was like they were a couple again, all of the lovey captions. Which would of course lead me to look at Seth's which were just as bad.

Scott had heard me complain about all of this the entire summer. It had gotten to the point where he promised to take my phone away if he caught me checking on her again. Clearly, he wasn't following through on that but it made me stop complaining about it. He had stood with me this summer. Going to parties he didn't want to so I could hook up with another girl I didn't care about. Teaching me how to play lacrosse so I could make first line this year. Ignoring Allison to the point where he didn't even talk about her when I drunkenly cried about Emma. I was proud of him, he seemed to have his life back on track. It was about time.

"Are you sure you don't want to get one too?" Scott asked as we pulled into the parking lot of the tattoo parlor.

I snorted, "I'm absolutely positive. Are you sure you want to get one?"

He nodded solemnly, "I'm totally sure."

We got out of the Jeep and entered the tattoo parlor. Some big, bald guy approached Scott, asking him what he wanted. Scott pulled out the drawing from his pocket. I began to look around the shop. I found a book that had a bunch of drawings of premade tattoos.

"Boy, good thing you drew me a picture," the tattoo artist said to Scott.

I found a tattoo that was a giant lizard looking thing. I laughed to myself.

"Hey, Scott," I said turning around, "are you sure you don't want something like this?" Scott just rolled his eyes, "Too soon?" I kept flipping through the book, "I don't know man, are you sure about this? I mean these things are pretty permanent."

"I'm not changing my mind," he said with a smile.

Fair enough, "Okay but why two bands?"

"I just like it," he said with a shrug.

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning?" I argued.

"Getting a tattoo means something," he countered.

"I don't think that's -," I started.

"He's right," the tattoo artist interrupted me, "Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word 'tatau' means like a right of passage."

"Yeah," Scott said with a smirk, "You see? He gets it."

I rolled my eyes, "He's covered in tattoos, Scott. Literally."

"Okay," the guy said to Scott, ignoring me, "You ready?"

Scott nodded and clenched his jaw, ready for the first needle.

"You don't have any problems with needles do you?" he asked Scott.

Scott shook his head, "No."

I watched as the bald man began to tattoo my best friend's arm. I walked around the set up to get a better look.

"I tend to get a little squeamish," I said scratching the back of my neck.

I watched the needles go in and out a couple of time. Then I felt my head hit the cold floor of the shop.

 **Emma's POV**

I had been home for roughly a month. No one was supposed to know. I came home early when Seth found out that Boyd and Erica were missing. When I made him tell me about the alpha pack, I insisted on coming back with him in order to protect my mom. I had been posting old pictures on social media so people didn't know I was back. Derek ordered us to not tell anyone about the alpha pack and I figured them thinking I was still in another country was better than lying to their faces.

So I was very surprised when I got a phone call from Lydia asking me to come with her and Allison on a group date. After asking her a ton of questions about how she found out she told me that she saw my mom at the store and got it out of her. Once that was settled, she wouldn't let me say no. Which is why I am currently in the backseat of her car, driving to meet some guys I've never met before. But it was good to be back with them, even if I technically shouldn't be.

"It is not a group date it is a group thing," Lydia argued with Allison.

"Do they know it's a group thing? Cause I told you, I don't think I'm ready to get back out there," Allison argued back.

"I second that," I said from the backseat.

"You've been shacked up with Seth all summer, don't tell me you're not ready to move on," Lydia said looking at me in the rearview mirror.

I felt myself blush, "Seth and I weren't together like that this summer. Besides, he has a girlfriend now."

Despite the fact that I had drunkenly thrown myself at Seth during our first full moon in England, he turned me down and we hadn't talked about it since. After all of the training and hunter bullshit we went through this summer, we were best friends. Siblings really. So, while I may have drunkenly wanted to bone him three months ago, I didn't want to anymore.

Lydia raised her eyebrows at me, "Really? And no other guys this summer?"

I shook my head, "What about you Al? You were in France and didn't do any dating?"

She shook her head and shrugged, "Did you Lydia? I mean after -,"

"Do not say his name," Lydia cut her off.

"Is he okay? I mean did everything work out?" Allison asked.

"The doctors looked like total idiots when he turned up alive but everyone got over it," Lydia explained, "and yes, Derek taught him the werewolf 101. Like how not to randomly kill people during the full moon."

"So then, you've talked to him?" Allison asked.

"Uh, not since he left for London," Lydia said glancing at me again.

Allison turned to look at me, "Did you talk to him?"

I shrugged, "Seth set him up with a pack over there and I went with them to meet up but that was about it. He seemed different though. Like nicer if that's even possible. Besides, Lydia, it's not like he up and left. His mom and dad moved him to London."

"Whatever," she said looking back at the road, "he left. And seriously? An American werewolf in London? Like that's not going to be a disaster."

"So, you're totally over him?" Allison asked after a beat.

"Would we be going on a group date if I wasn't?" she argued. Allison and I scoffed, "Fine, it is a group date."

 **Stiles' POV**

I saw my phone light up on the dashboard of the Jeep. I was getting a notification. Before I could grab it to lock the screen, Scott took it in his own hands.

"You subscribed to her twitter?" Scott asked shaking his head, "Come on, dude."

I sighed, "I just didn't want to miss an update on her life."

"Have you tried talking to her at all?" he asked, putting my phone back.

I shook my head, "She made it very clear that she wanted time a part so that's what I'm giving her. Besides, she insulted my game and I need time to get over that."

"You're still hung up on that?" Scott asked with a smirk.

"Have you talked to Allison at all this summer?" I asked Scott, ignoring his question.

He sighed, "Nah, we agreed to give each other the summer. No texts, no calls."

"Then how do you know she won't be back at school then?" I asked, remembering one of our conversations earlier this summer.

I looked past Scott and saw Allison and Lydia in the car next to us.

"After everything that happened, I don't think she's coming back at all," Scott said softly.

"I think she is," I said with a sigh. Scott turned his head and I finally got a look into the backseat. There, laughing at something, was Emma.

She looked different. In the photos she had posted recently, her hair looked the same it always did but now it was dark and short with choppy layers. It made her look paler than usual but somehow it made her look more beautiful. I felt my chest tighten at the sight of her. She moved her hand up to tuck some hair behind her ear and there was a long red scar that went from her wrist, up the sleeve of her shirt. I couldn't get a good look at it because suddenly, Scott was snapping his fingers in front of my face.

"I think there's a 100% chance that both Allison and Emma are coming back from their European adventures," I said with a gulp. He looked at me, stull confused. I nodded my head towards the car.

Scott looked at Allison how I assumed I was looking at Emma. Except, Allison looked up and made eye contact with Scott.

"Oh god," Scott said shrinking in his seat.

I waved so it didn't seem that awkward that we were both just staring at our ex-girlfriends in the car next to us. Then I realized that none of the girls were returning my wave so I slowly lowered my hand.

"Can you just drive? Please, Stiles?" Scott begged.

"Scott, it's a red light," I argued.

I glanced back and looked at Emma. She was looking back at me. She slowly raised her hand in a wave and then quickly lowered it. She said something to the girls in the front. She didn't look mad, not like Allison did. But she looked uncomfortable, like she was caught or something.

"I think we should talk to them," I said to Scott, "Maybe we should just say something."

"No," Scott argued.

"I'm just gonna," I said reaching across Scott.

"No, no, no," Scott argued with me. I began to roll the window down, "Stiles, dude. No. Come on!"

"Hi!" I yelled as I got the window down. They quickly sped off down the road. "They probably didn't see us?"

The light turned green so I began to continue driving Scott home like I planned.

"What are you doing?" Scott snapped at me.

"Driving," I argued.

"Well, we're right behind them," he pointed out.

"Well, Scott, do you see any turns?" I argued.

"I don't want it to look like we're following them," he said.

"And you think I do?" I argued. "What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, anything," he said, desperate.

I slammed on the breaks. I didn't know what else to do. But then, Lydia's car stopped. Scott and I looked at each other and then back at the road. Suddenly, a deer was running down the road and crashed into Lydia's car. We heard the girls screaming and quickly got out of the car.

I ran over to Emma's side of the car as she got out. I quickly wrapped my arms around her without thinking. It didn't seem to matter though because she burrowed deeper into my chest.

"Are you hurt?" I asked her, pulling her away for a short period of time.

She nodded, "I'm fine."

I pulled her back to me. She was okay. She was good.

"Well I'm not okay!" Lydia shouted, "I am totally freaking out! How the hell does it just run into us?"

Emma moved away from me and to Lydia, wrapping her arms around the strawberry blonde. I sighed, realizing the mistake I had made by trying to comfort her. She wasn't mine anymore. That wasn't my job.

"I saw his eyes right before it hit us. It was like it was crazy," Lydia murmured to Emma.

"He wasn't crazy," she said softly, "he was scared."

"Actually, terrified," Scott said as he pet the deer.

 **Emma's POV**

It was the first day of school. It was my first, first day at Beacon Hills, not being the new kid. That should be exciting but after last night, I was dreading any interaction with Stiles. That was not how I had our meeting planned out. He wasn't even supposed to know that I was back yet. I tweeted last night that I was getting on the plane home. He wasn't supposed to see me until school when my outfit was perfect. Not last night when I was wearing leggings and a tank top.

I crossed over to my closet. At least I still had the perfect outfit. I put on my black skinny jeans, a black crop top with a zipper down the center, and my black motorcycle boots. A large portion of my mid-drift was showing but that was the point. I put on darker eyeliner and dark red lipstick. I combed my fingers through my hair to make it look a little less like bedhead.

I had decided that I wanted to find myself this summer. On that journey, I had dyed my hair dark brown, almost black, and cut off roughly six inches. At first, I hated it but now, I can't imagine having my old hair. I had also decided that I wasn't going to be so girly. No more cute little dresses or skirts. I wanted to reinvent myself a bit. So this was how I was doing it.

I grabbed my black leather jacket and ran down the stairs. Seth was sitting at the table drinking coffee. His head snapped up to look at me as I came down the stairs.

"Your mother is going to kill you," he said with a smirk.

"I'd like to see her try," I said with a wink.

He shook his head, "Are you ready for today?"

I sighed, "After last night, yes but I still wish things had gone differently."

"Makes sense," he said crossing the kitchen to the sink, "Do you really think that this is the way to get Stiles back?"

'This' referred to my outfit. No one, except for my grandma, seemed to understand that this reinvention was about me and not Stiles. We were meant to be together, that much I knew. So I was having fun being me and finding out who I was. Is there anything wrong with that?

I rolled my eyes, "Who said this is me getting Stiles back?"

Seth just chuckled, "Fine. Lie to yourself. But we both know that you are trying to seduce the poor kid."

I scoffed, "How dare you insinuate that."

"I didn't insinuate it. It's a fact, E," he said leaving the kitchen.

I followed him out to the car, suddenly questioning myself. I was doing this for me. Wasn't I?

 **Stiles' POV**

"You wanna ask Derek for help? Why? Why?" I asked Scott, annoyed.

"He has the triskele tattooed on his back," he explained, "So there has to be a way to do it without healing."

"Yeah," I agreed, "But doesn't he have his hands a little full?"

We looked at the posters of Boyd and Erica, announcing that they were missing. It was sad really. They decided to become werewolves, only to be taken or worse, killed.

"I could ask Seth," Scott pointed over to the beta at his locker.

I rolled my eyes, "Dude, bro code."

"I'm not breaking bro code if I'm asking for a favor. I won't even bring up Emma," Scott said walking over to Seth, "Besides, he's not that bad of a guy."

"Not that bad of a guy," I mumbled under my breath in disbelief.

"If you're looking for Emma, she's at her own locker," Seth said not looking at us.

"Why would we be looking for her?" I said, annoyed.

"I have a question to ask you, ya know a werewolf question," Scott whispered.

Seth chuckled. He finally turned towards us, "What's the question, Scott?"

"Do you know how -," Scott started.

"Hi, guys," a sweet voice said from behind Scott and I. We both turned around.

Emma was standing in front of us with the most revealing shirt I've ever seen her wear before. Her dark, short hair made her look older and more dangerous if that was possible. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and it came out like a whine. She raised her eyebrow at me, smirking.

"Again," Seth said from behind us, "What is your question, Scott?"

Scott turned to face Seth but I couldn't take my eyes off of Emma. She came closer to us and stood between Seth and me. I watched her every movement.

"Do you know how werewolves can get tattoos?" Scott asked Seth.

Seth and Emma shook their head. Wow, so this entire conversation was pointless. Great.

"You should ask Derek," Emma suggested.

Since when is she pro Derek?

Seth nodded, "Yeah, he has the triskele on his back right?"

Emma nodded, "He would probably know how to do it. It'll probably hurt like hell though so prepare yourself."

"Thanks guys," Scott said, "See you in class."

He pulled me away from them. I followed Emma with my eyes even as I walked away. How is it that she got hotter over the summer? That isn't fair.

 **Emma's POV**

Seth and I walked to English, grabbing seats towards the back of the classroom. He nudged me as Scott and Stiles walked into the room. Stiles eyes locked on mine and once again, he wouldn't look away. He sat in front of me and Scott sat next to him. Then, Lydia and Allison came in. Lydia sat next to Stiles but the seat in front of her was quickly taken. Allison looked around the room, finding the only open spot to be in front of Scott. Wow, it must be awkward to have your ex sit in front of you. Oh, wait.

Scott awkwardly told her that the seat was hers. She sat down and shot Lydia and I a look that practically begged us to switch seats with her. Sitting behind Stiles was one thing but next to him was another. I looked at Lydia for help but she shot both of us a smirk and went back to her phone.

Suddenly, all of the phones in the classroom went off simultaneously. We all pulled them out of our various bags, purses, or pockets.

"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the Earth flowed somber under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness," a young brunette woman said, standing in front of the class, "This is the last line to the first book that we are going to read. This is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

We all quietly turned our phones off and then put them back where we found them. I looked around the class, recognizing most people until I realized something.

"Dude," I said leaning over to Seth, "Where's Isaac?"

He looked around the room, the same way I had, "I don't know."

"Is he okay?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"You're the one who would know," Seth said with a smirk.

I sighed. He was right. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I tried to focus on Isaac. What he looked like, what he felt like, and who he was as a person. My eyes snapped open.

"He's in the hospital but he seems to be okay," I said, "His heartrate is normal and he isn't in pain or anything."

Seth smiled, "That's my girl."

I looked up with a self-satisfied smile on my face only to have it slip completely off when I saw Stiles watching both of us. His eyes narrowed but he had a smirk on his face. He softly shook his head and turned back around. I exchanged a look with Seth.

"Mr. McCall," the teacher, Ms. Blake, said from the front of the room. We all turned to look at Scott. He shrugged as she motioned for him to come to the front of the classroom. She escorted him to the hall and talked with him for a bit.

"Lydia," I heard Stiles whisper. I snapped my head up to witness the encounter. She looked at him. He pointed at her ankle, "What is that? Is that from the accident?"

"No," she said softly, "Prada bit me."

"Your dog?" Stiles questioned. I rolled my eyes.

"No, my designer handbag," Lydia said sarcastically, "Yes, my dog."

"Has he ever bitten you before?" Stiles questioned. Lydia shook her head, "Okay, what if that's the same thing as the deer? Ya know, like how animals start acting weird before an earthquake or something?"

"Meaning what?" Lydia argued, "There's going to be an earthquake?"

"Or something," Stiles said softly, "Just, maybe it means something's coming. Something bad."

"It was a deer and a dog," Lydia pointed out.

"What's that thing you say about threes?" Seth asked from next to me.

Stiles snapped his head to look at us. I don't think he realized that we were listening in. It's not like we were trying hard to, we are werewolves after all.

"Yeah, once, twice," Lydia started but was interrupted by a loud noise against the window.

We all looked over to see blood smeared on the glass. The sky was filled with crows. We all exchanged a worried glance with each other. More birds started flying into the windows with loud bangs. We were all jumping from the loud noises. They started to fly through the glass, throwing shards everywhere. The birds flew into the room and began to attack students. I flew to the ground and felt a body over mine.

"It's okay," I heard Stiles' voice whisper into my hair.

Once again, we were attacked by an animal and he was holding me. He was protecting me and comforting me. Why does he keep doing this? I know what he was up to this summer. I know that he got what he wanted and fucked a bunch of other girls. Even though I shouldn't have, I checked in on him this summer. We still have our connection. I can still see what he sees, feel what he feels, and whatever else. So I know that he didn't miss me this summer. Why is he treating me the way he did when we were together?

Stiles slowly stood up and pulled me to my feet. We looked around the mess of the classroom. Seth was helping Lydia stand up. I crossed over to Lydia as we both looked around for Allison. Allison stood up, holding her head and we ran over to her. All three of us embracing in an awkward group hug.

 **Stiles' POV**

I called Scott to tell him about what had happened in Ms. Blake's class. I was also calling to tell him not to come back because school was cancelled for the rest of the day. He told me to head to Derek's and while I wanted to argue, I knew he wouldn't listen to me anyway. I walked out of the school and towards my Jeep. I heard footsteps behind me.

"Stiles," Emma's voice called, "Wait up."

I turned around, also hitting her with my arm, "What do you want?"

She visibly flinched at my tone. Despite the fact that I keep feeling the need to protect her and check up on her, I'm still mad at her. She still broke my fucking heart.

"Are you going to Scott?" she asked.

I scoffed, "What does it matter to you, Emma?"

"I know you hate me right now which is completely understandable, by the way. But I still care about Scott, okay? I still care about you too but that's a discussion for another time. Take me with you to Scott. Please," she argued.

I sighed, "Fine."

We both climbed in the Jeep only to realize that this now meant we had to be alone for a car ride. There was an awkward silence for half of the drive before Emma became antsy.

"So, how was your summer?" she asked casually.

I gripped my knuckles on the steering wheel, "It was fine."

"Did you do anything interesting?" she seemed to force herself to ask.

"Emma, just stop," I said with a sigh.

"Stop what?" she asked innocently.

"I know that you don't actually care, okay? I don't want to feel obligated to ask you about your summer because I know all about your summer romance with Seth. So please, stop asking me questions that you don't want to know the answer to," I said annoyed.

"Sorry," her voice cracked. Shit. I made her cry. I couldn't bring myself to look at her because I knew if I did I would apologize. But I couldn't apologize. I meant everything that I had said.

We got to Derek's and both of us jumped out of the car, not wanting to be in that awkward situation anymore. Emma led the way into the house. She ran over to Isaac who was passed out in what used to be the living room. I crossed over to Derek and Scott in the room next to it.

"Is he okay?" Emma asked, entering the room we were in.

Derek waved her off, "He will be."

"Did you call Seth?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. Of course she's thinking about her precious boyfriend right now.

"I did," Derek said getting tools out of a toolbox.

She nodded, "And what are you doing with the toolbox?"

"Remember what I asked you earlier?" Scott asked. She nodded, "Derek is going to help."

She crossed over to us and leaned against the wall with her arms over her chest. Scott began explaining what he wanted to Derek.

"Yeah," Derek said, shifting his eyes, "I see it. Two bands, right?" Scott nodded, "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," Scott said, suddenly bashful, "Uh, it's just something I traced with my fingers."

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek asked.

"Do you know what the word 'tattoo' means?" Scott asked.

I knew this one, "To mark something."

Scott shook his head, "That's in Tahitian. In Samoan it means open wound. I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18. I've always wanted one. But I just decided to get it now to make it a kind of reward."

"For what?" Derek asked.

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer," Scott explained.

I looked at Emma and she was biting her lip. She looked like she was trying not to cry. All I wanted to do was go over and comfort her but I knew I couldn't.

"Even when I really wanted to," Scott continued, "Even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants. And three months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a um -,"

"Like an open wound," Emma and I said at the same time. We locked eyes for a second before she broke contact to look at her shoes.

"Yeah," Scott nodded, sadly.

"The pain is going to be worse than anything you've ever felt," Derek explained.

"Oh, that's great," I mumbled.

"Do it," Scott said.

Derek turned on a torch and I felt light headed again.

"Oh wow," I said, shifting on my feet, "That's a lot for me so, I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm gonna wait outside."

"Nope," Derek said stopping me from walking away by hitting me in the torso, "You're going to help hold him down."

"But she's a werewolf," I said pointing at Emma.

"Oh, she's going to help too," he said motioning her to come forward.

Emma and I both grabbed Scott's shoulders and held him back as far as we could. Derek pulled Scott's arm towards him and began to light his skin on fire.

"Hold him," Derek demanded.

We tried to keep our hold on him as he shifted. Eventually, the pain was so much that he passed out. Derek continued to work on the tattoo, until it was finished. Emma and I let Scott go. He jolted awake. He looked at his arm, seeing the tattoo.

"It worked," he said with a smile.

"Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now," I said handing him his shirt. I helped him get to his feet.

"Yeah, I kind of need something permanent. Everything that's happened to us, everything just changes so fast, everything's so uh, ephemeral," Scott said softly.

I nodded, "Studying for the PSATs?"

"Yep," he said with a smile.

"Nice," I said smiling back.

Scott opened the door but hesitated in the doorway. He looked at the door which had been painted red. It looked like new paint.

"Who painted the door?" he asked, "Why'd you paint the door?"

Derek shook his head, "Go home, Scott."

"And why only one side?" Scott asked, more to himself than anyone else.

He drew his claws and began to attack the door. He ripped all of the fresh paint off of the wood. Finally we saw black marks on the door, underneath the fresh paint.

"Scott," Emma shouted, crossing to us, "Let it go."

I turned to look at her. She knew something and wasn't telling us.

"The birds at school. The deer last night. Just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the alpha," Scott said glaring at Emma and Derek, "How many are there?"

Emma and Derek exchanged a look. Derek sighed, "A pack of them."

"An alpha pack," Emma added.

"All of them? How does that even work?" I asked looking at her.

"I hear there's a leader," Derek continued, "He's called Deucalion."

"We know they have Boyd and Erica," Emma said.

"Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for them for the past 3 months. Emma and Seth came back early to help us a month ago," Derek explained.

She's been back for a month? But she was posting about what she was doing in England literally two days ago! What the hell is going on?

"So you find them," Scott said crossing to Derek, "How do you deal with an alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get," Derek said, hopeful.

I looked at Scott, worried. We did not need to get involved in this. This was not our fight. Scott looked at me and I shrugged, knowing we would have to help because that's what happens when you're friends with Scott McCall.

"Where is she?" Isaac asked, suddenly awake, "Where's the girl?"

We all exchanged a look, not knowing who he was talking about.

"What girl?" Derek asked the question we were all thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is a long af chapter so get pumped.**

 **I tried something a little new with this one because I kept writing the party scene one way and then realizing I was cutting out things I didn't want to cut out so yeah this is what happened.**

 **As always, read and review.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

 **I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"I just can't believe she is with him again or that she came back early and didn't have the decency to tell me!" I ranted at Scott.

"For the hundredth time dude, I know. You're still hung up on this?" Scott said annoyed.

We were on our way to a party for a girl I grew up with. I was trying to get one last lay of the summer before school was completely in swing. Scott, however, wanted nothing to do with my plan. And being that the summer was actually over, he had decided that my summer of conquests should be over too. I had argued with him about how this would be good for both of us but he didn't really seem to be listening. Scott was over me complaining about Emma but I couldn't stop. It was like word vomit. Like every thought that I had had about Emma all summer wouldn't stop coming out of my mouth all day.

"I'm not hung up on it," I argued, "I'm just venting about it. You know venting, right? A person talks but doesn't actually want advice on the subject."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Sorry for interrupting your venting then, please continue to obsess about Emma like you have been for the past three months."

"I object to that," I said as I parked the Jeep on the side of the road. We had arrived at the party. We both got out.

"Stiles," Scott started, giving me a look like he wanted to talk about something serious.

"What?" I asked falling into step with him on the sidewalk.

"What do you mean what?" Scott asked, brushing me off. He clearly had wanted to say something.

"I mean what. And you know what," I argued.

"What what?" Scott said with a smirk.

"That look you were giving," I said looking away from him.

"I didn't give a look," Scott argued.

"No, there was a distinct look, Scott," I pointed out.

"What look?" Scott asked, just trying to confuse me now.

I sighed, "The look that says the last thing you feel like doing right now is going to a party."

He shrugged, "It's not that. It just seems a little weird going to another high school's party."

"What?" I asked flailing my arms, "Oh my god, one drink and you will be fine! I went to nursery school with this girl, okay? She promised to introduce us to all of her friends. So, tonight; no Allison, no Emma. Tonight, we're moving on!"

"You're right," Scott said, ignoring my Emma comment.

"That's right, I'm right," I said.

"Moving on," Scott said gently.

"Onward and upward!" I said pointing in front of me and up to the sky.

"Let's do this!" Scott said, more confident.

"That's what I'm talking about. No looking back," I said excited.

We high fived each other, meeting our hands up high and down low. Turning on the sidewalk, we walked toward the house to enter the party.

"How does my breath smell?" Scott asked softly.

"I'm not smelling your breath," I scoffed.

"Do you have any gum?" he asked, nervous Scott coming back.

"No, no gum!" I exclaimed.

"Fine, can you at least tell me what kind of party this is?" he asked.

"It's a birthday party," I said opening the door.

"Stiles!" I heard a voice exclaim as we entered the party

I looked up and saw Heather approaching us.

"Hey! There's the birthday gi-," before I could even finish my greeting, Heather had pressed her lips against mine in a forceful kiss. She pulled back, running her hands up my arms.

"So glad that you made it," she said sweetly.

"Me too," I said, still recovering from an unexpected welcome.

"Come downstairs with me and help me pick out a bottle of wine," she suggested, nodding towards the basement stairs.

"Yes," I said, hoping that by 'help me pick out a bottle of wine' she meant 'fuck me hard'.

I turned and looked at Scott as she grabbed my hand. He gave me a wide eyed looking meaning he knew what I was up to and wasn't going to tell me not to but he still didn't approve. I turned back towards Heather. She led me to the basement door. She silently led me down the stairs but the silence was becoming too much.

"Hey," I said as we reached the basement, "Remember when we were little kids and we used to come down here all the time."

She grabbed me by the neck and forcefully put her lips on mine again. This time, I was prepared so I was able to kiss her back. She pulled back.

"Yeah, we never did that," I said sarcastically.

She ran her hands down my chest and grabbed my hand. Dragging me deeper into the wine cellar that was in the basement, she wouldn't let go of my hand.

"Stiles," she breathed, "I just turned 17 today and you know what I want for my birthday?"

"A bike?" I gulped.

"To not be a 17 year old virgin," she said kicking off her heels.

She was at a shorter height now. She was closer to Emma's height without the heels. Come on, dude, seriously. Maybe I am hung up like Scott said.

She pressed her lips on mine again, interrupting my thoughts. Her hands moved down to my belt buckle, undoing it. I pulled back, putting my hand behind her neck, wrapping it in her hair.

"Have you never done it before either?" she asked, her confidence wavering.

"Turned 17? No, not yet," I said playfully.

"Stiles," she said gently shoving my shoulder.

I smirked, "Trust me. I have plenty of experience in that department."

She sighed, "And would you want to? With me? Would you be okay with that?"

"Would I be okay with that?" I laughed, "Yeah, I believe so."

She kissed me again. I pulled her closer to me. I felt her hands on my waist again, going back to my belt buckle. Then a thought hit me.

"Shit, I don't have any…," I trailed off.

"My brother has some," she said, her eyes clouded with lust, "In the upstairs bathroom."

"Yeah? Okay? Should I…," I trailed off again.

"You should go get them," she said eagerly, "Go!"

"Going," I said turning and almost running into a shelf of wine.

I ran up the stairs, leaving the basement. I can't believe I didn't bring any condoms with me. I mean come on, I always have them on me. If I learned anything from this summer, it was that. Maybe it was my subconscious telling me that this was a bad idea. Maybe, but I was going to do it anyway.

 **Emma's POV**

"Why are we going to this party again?" I asked Seth, not looking up from my phone.

"Because," he said annoyed, "That girl I met is going to be there and she invited me."

"And you didn't ask Isaac or Scott to go with you, why?" I asked.

"I did. Isaac is still not feeling too hot and Scott ditched me for something else," Seth said sounding hurt.

I put my phone down. Seth had been down in the dumps since we came back from England. He had recently met some girl named Morgan at the gym and she invited him to this party. He claims that they hit it off as friends but something tells me that that's not the whole story.

"Fine," I said, "But I'm coming as support. I'm not being a wing-woman."

Seth chuckled, "That's all I ask."

He parked the car down the street. We walked up to a house that seemed normal from the outside. We could hear the bass of music pumping from outside the house. Then, I saw a familiar figure in the driveway.

"Scott?" I asked, getting the boy's attention. He looked up at me and panic spread across his face.

"Emma? Seth? Um, what are you guys doing here?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at the house behind him.

"This was the party I was telling you about earlier," Seth explained.

"Right, duh," Scott said sheepishly, "Sorry about that."

"I thought you had plans with Stiles?" Seth asked.

"I did, I mean do. I do. He's inside," Scott said gesturing behind him with his thumb.

I felt my heart sink into my stomach. I couldn't escape him, could I? We're at a party for another school and he is still here. I looked at my feet, bouncing on the balls of my feet a couple of times.

"He's um," Scott started, looking over his shoulder again.

"With a girl?" I supplied.

Scott whipped his head back to look at Seth and me, "How did you –,"

"Psychic, remember?" I said pointing at myself.

Seth scoffed. He knew that my knowing had nothing to do with my psychic abilities in this moment. I had known all summer about Stiles' escapades. I tried not to let it bother me. I tried to act like I was fine, but people started to notice so I had to tell my mom and Seth the truth. That my grandparents had taught me how to check in on Stiles. Meaning, if I wanted to, I could reactivate our connection. Which meant that I could see and feel him while he had sex with other girls. It was truly a great superpower.

"Emma?" I heard a voice behind me.

I turned around to see Lydia and Allison walking up the driveway towards us. I felt Seth stiffen next to me. I looked at him, asking if he was okay with my eyes but he just shrugged.

"Hi guys," I said as they got closer.

"We didn't know you two were here," Lydia said, looking at Seth for a moment longer than normal.

That was weird.

"Yeah, Seth dragged me here against my will," I said sarcastically.

Seth nudged me and Lydia giggled. She actually giggled. Definitely weird.

"This isn't the talk we were going to have, is it?" Scott asked Allison.

She looked away for a second before responding. She pulled up her sleeve and motioned for Lydia to stand next to her.

"I need to show you something," Allison said.

We all gathered to look at their arms. There was one bruise in the same spot on each of their arms. They seemed to make a shape or follow a pattern. I looked at Seth. He gave me a knowing look like we would talk about this to Derek later.

"I don't see anything," Scott said softly.

I scoffed, "It makes a pattern."

"Thank you!" Allison exclaimed with tears in her eyes. I could tell she had been thinking about this for a long time.

I nodded, "We'll research it and figure out what it means."

"Totally. Maybe we can talk to Derek about it," Seth suggested.

"So, it's settled," Scott said with a relieved smile on his face.

We all took a step back from each other. None of us were saying what we were all thinking. That maybe it didn't mean anything. That maybe it was just a coincidence.

"How did –," I started.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" we all turned to look at the house and there was Stiles in all of his glory.

He had grown up so much over the summer. The awkward, spastic boy that I loved turned into a man with this weird aura of confidence. Plus he grew out his hair and all I could think about when I saw him was running my hands through it while we kissed. I swear, it's not fair when your ex gets hot when you're apart from one another.

"Stiles," Scott said putting his arm out to stop Stiles as he stormed over to us.

"What? Did you invite them?" he snapped, glaring at me.

"Are you talking about us or them?" Lydia asked, gesturing between herself and Seth and I.

"He's talking about me," I answered for Stiles.

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I was talking about your boyfriend here too," Stiles said with a smug smirk.

I scoffed, "Right, and on that note, I'm out."

"Wait, Emma," Scott said before I could turn to leave.

"Scott, it's fine," I lied.

I turned on my heel and walked down the sidewalk back to the car. I had my set of keys on me. Seth could catch a ride with Allison or Stiles. I didn't care. All I cared about was getting out of there.

 **Stiles' POV**

When I went to the basement and saw that Heather wasn't down there, I figured she had changed her mind and went back to the party. I tried to find Scott in the house but I couldn't see him anywhere. Figuring he went back to the Jeep, I left the house to meet him there. When I opened the door, my heart about stopped in my chest as I saw Emma congregating with Scott, Lydia, Allison, and Seth on the driveway. Why was she here? Why was she everywhere?

I took a second to get my heartbeat back to normal. In that moment, I took in Emma's outfit. She was in a short, tight black dress that had parts of it missing at her hips. Her short hair was straight and choppy against her shoulders. My eyes slowly trailed her legs until I realized that I was being a fucking creep. She wasn't mine anymore. To be more specific, her boyfriend was standing right next to her. This sparked a rage inside of me that I thought I had shut down.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" I practically shouted from my spot by the door.

I began to cross over to them. I guess I looked like I was pissed because Scott put his hand out to stop me.

"Stiles," he said calmly.

"What? Did you invite them?" I snapped, glaring at Emma. She was looking back at me like I was a wild animal or something.

"Are you talking about us or them?" I heard Lydia ask but I didn't even give her a glance, continuing to glare at Emma.

"He's talking about me," Emma said crossing her arms. She was challenging my glare. That made me even more angry.

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart," I was saying before I could even think it through, "I was talking about your boyfriend here too."

She scoffed but her glare never faltered, "Right, and on that note, I'm out."

"Wait, Emma," Scott said from next to me.

It took everything in me not to shoot him a glare. I mean come on dude, bro code. You don't comfort your best friend's ex-girlfriend. I kept my eyes set on Emma.

"Scott," Emma said calmly, "It's fine."

Emma Baker. The liar extraordinaire was getting caught in a lie. I saw as her glare wavered when she said 'fine'. It took everything in me to not wrap her in a hug and kiss the top of her head. But I couldn't. I couldn't let her know that I still loved her. Not when she was with Seth. She turned to walk away and I felt my face soften a bit.

"You're a fucking idiot," Seth said crossing his arms.

I snapped my eyes to him, "I'm sorry, are you talking to me?"

He scoffed, "Yes, no one else here is a fucking idiot."

Scott chuckled, "He's right."

"Dude, you are the worst best friend right now," I said glaring at Scott.

"We aren't dating," Seth said with a smirk, glancing at Lydia for a beat longer than normal.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"We. Are. Not. Dating," Seth said.

"But you're always together," I said softly.

"So are you and Scott," he argued with a scoff.

I glared at him, "That's your argument?"

"Fine, don't believe me. Just know that I've spent the past three months making sure she's okay because of you. So I repeat what I said, you're a fucking idiot," Seth said turning to walk in the direction that Emma had just gone.

Making sure she's okay? She broke up with me. Wasn't I supposed to be the one who wasn't okay? And they spent so much time together. And the Instagram pictures and captions. They had to be together. There was no other explanation for it.

 **Emma's POV**

"We're telling Derek before school today so hurry up," Seth said from my doorway.

"I'm already done," I said emerging from my closet.

I had decided that today I was going to tone down the new look. I put on acid wash, denim cutoffs, a black tank, and a red plaid shirt over it. I couldn't remember where I had gotten it but it was well worn and comfortable as hell. I had put on my black combat boots as a final touch.

"Wow, giving up on the goth look already?" Seth asked with a smirk.

"Shut up," I said, pushing past him and into the hallway.

The drive to school was silent. We had a big talk last night about how I needed to let go of Stiles and how Seth didn't think it was healthy for us to constantly be bickering. I agreed with him but I wasn't the one who was constantly glaring. After last night, the last person I wanted to see was Stiles. So obviously, the first person we saw at school was Stiles. He glared at us as we got out of the car and then headed into school. I just shrugged it off, trying to not let it bother me.

We met Derek, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Allison in a random classroom before the bell rang. This was the oddest group of people I've ever seen together. Also, how does Derek keep getting into school randomly?

Lydia and Allison held their arms out for Derek to inspect.

"I don't see anything," he said glaring at Seth and me.

Apparently, Seth had told him he needed to check it out.

"Look again," Scott and I said.

"How is a bruise going to tell me where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek asked, glaring at Allison.

"It's the same, on both sides. Exactly the same," Scott tried.

"It's nothing," Derek said, not breaking his glare with Allison.

"Pareidolia," Lydia said, "Seeing patterns that aren't there." Everyone shrugged. I smirked, I loved smart Lydia, "It's a subset of Apophenia."

"They're trying to help," Seth whispered to Derek.

"These two?" Derek nodded towards the girls, "This one," he pointed at Lydia, "Who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle. Thank you. And this one," he nodded at Allison, "Who shot about 30 arrows into me and my pack."

"Hey alright, come on," Stiles said softly from behind me. I turned to look at him for the first time since the meeting started. He had been unusually quiet the whole time, "No one died. Alright, look, there may have been a little maiming. Okay, a little mangling. But no death. That's what I call an important distinction."

"My mother died," Allison said softly. I winced.

"Your family's little honor code killed your mother," Derek snapped, "Not me."

"A girl is looking for Scott. I'm here to help him. Not you," Allison said.

"You wanna help?" Derek challenged, "Find something real."

He turned to walk away. Seth, Scott, and I followed him to the door.

"Give her a chance," Scott pleaded.

"They're on our side now," I seconded.

"Well then maybe you two should tell her what her mother was actually trying to do that night," Derek said looking at Scott and me.

Scott and I had promised each other, before I left for England, that we wouldn't tell Allison the truth about her mom. I put myself in her shoes. If someone know that my dad was a villain, I wouldn't want them to tell me that now. It would hurt too much.

The bell rang and we all left in separate directions for class. I wanted to talk to Scott before class started so I followed him and Stiles into the hallway.

"Scott," I said, getting their attention.

"Yeah," he said stopping to turn and face me.

"We can't tell her," I said, ignoring Stiles' glare.

He nodded, "I know. I don't want to."

"Okay. So the promise still holds," I said with a relieved sigh, "I just wanted to make sure we were still on the same page."

"Of course," he said with a smile."

"Can we go now?" Stiles asked with a whine.

I shot him a glare. Looking back at Scott, "I'll see you in class."

I turned and started toward my locker, wanting to change my books before class.

{}{}{}

Economics was the most boring class on the planet. Coach made it slightly better but still. I walked into class and settled into my seat behind Stiles. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sit away from him. Seth sat next to me with Scott in front of him. Coach slammed a book on his desk, getting our attention.

"The stock market is based on two principles," he explained, "What are they?"

Scott raised his hand. I had to stop myself from laughing. Did he actually know the answer or was he just messing with Coach?

"Yes McCall, you can go to the bathroom," Coach said, "Anybody else?"

Scott sighed, "No, Coach. I know the answer."

Coach laughed, then realized that Scott was serious and stopped, "Oh you're serious?"

"Yeah, it's risk and reward," Scott said confidently.

"Wow!" Coach exclaimed, "Who are you and what have you done to McCall? Don't answer that I like you better. I like you better."

Coach backed up, back to where his desk was.

"Does anyone have a quarter?" he asked the class.

Stiles moved around in front of me, presumably to get a quarter out of his pocket. Instead, I saw a condom marked XXL fly out of his pocket. Not only did I feel my face flush in embarrassment for him but I also felt my heart race in jealousy. It was one thing for me to know he was with another girl last night, it's another for me to actually see proof of that. I can deal with it as long as I don't have to actually know what's going on. The condom being thrown in my face, quite literally, is too much. I looked up at Seth and he was grimacing. He mouthed, 'are you okay?' and I nodded.

"Stilinski," Coach said, picking up the condom, "I think you uh, dropped this."

He handed the condom back to Stiles.

"And congratulations," he said, "To both of you." He looked directly at me as he said the last part and I felt my face turn bright red.

Scott was looking at Stiles in awe. Seth was trying his hardest to not laugh at the two of us. I was trying not to reach over and punch Seth in the arm. This was humiliating. We aren't even dating anymore. That condom was for another girl yet somehow, I'm the one who's sex life is going to be talked about all over the school.

Stiles banging his hands on his desk took me out of my thoughts. He got out of his seat and went to the front of the class to put a quarter in a mug.

"Alright, Stilinski," Coach cheered him on.

Stiles got into position to shoot the quarter when his dad walked into the room. Scott and I exchanged a look. I sat up straighter in my seat. This can't be good.

"Stiles," his dad said.

"Yeah Coach, I got it," Stiles said, not looking up.

"Stiles," his dad tried again. This time Stiles looked up and froze. He left the room with his dad.

I tried to focus on what they were saying out in the hallway.

"I couldn't find her. I figured she had hooked up with her other friends," Stiles' voice said, "Has no one really seen her since last night?"

"We put out an APB but uh, Stiles, all her friends say that you were the last person who saw her," his dad's voice said.

"Me?" Stiles asked.

"We hope that it's just a series of bad decisions based on too much to drink but if you remember anything else, you call me," his dad's voice responded.

Shit. A girl went missing. This can't be good. I looked at Seth and Scott and realized we were all listening in on the conversation. Hopefully we can find this girl before something supernatural does.

 **Stiles' POV**

"So you think they kidnapped Heather to turn her?" Scott asked me about my theory.

"Derek said it's easier to turn teenagers," I explained.

"But what would a pack of alphas need with a beta?" he asked.

"Look, Scott, I don't know and I don't care. This girl, our moms were best friends before mine died. Okay? We used to take freaking bubble baths together when we were three. I've gotta find her," I pleaded.

"Then we need Isaac to remember," Scott said.

"How?" I argued, "Peter and Derek couldn't do it. Do you know any other werewolves with a better trick?"

Scott stopped, "Maybe not a werewolf, but someone who knows a lot about them."

I sighed, "You better not be talking about Emma."

"Uh, last time I checked she was officially a werewolf," Scott informed me.

"Wait, what? Since when?" I asked.

"I don't know, this summer I guess. Seth was telling me about how she was basically a full werewolf she just needed more training for fighting," Scott explained.

"And you were talking to Seth, why?" I asked, annoyed.

He sighed, "Because he's my friend. I know you don't like him. I don't know why you don't like him but I respect your opinion. That doesn't mean I can't like him."

"God you make me question this friendship," I said sarcastically.

{}{}{}

Derek and Scott were dumping bags of ice into a tub. Emma and Seth had met us at the clinic with Isaac in tow. We stood around the tub, the werewolves closer to it than I was. I stood by the door to the room. Emma sat on a table slightly in front of me, distancing herself from everyone.

"Like being hypnotized?" Isaac asked as he walked into the room.

"Exactly," Deaton exclaimed, "You'll be half transformed. It'll let us access your unconscious mind."

"How slow does his heartrate need to be?" Emma asked softly.

"Very slow," Deaton said cryptically.

"How slow is very slow?" Derek asked.

"Nearly dead," Deaton said with a shrug.

Isaac put his hand in the ice. He pulled it back with a hiss, "It's safe though, right?"

"Do you want me to answer honestly?" Deaton asked.

"No, no, not really," Isaac said softly.

I found a giant glove and quickly got distracted by the task at hand. I decided to try it on. I had gotten it on my hand, pretty quietly. But as I moved the rubber to get further up my arm, it made a loud snapping noise that made everyone in the room turn to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

Derek raised his eyebrows at me. Scott shook his head. Seth and Isaac looked genuinely uninterested. But Emma smirked. Her eyes held a light in them that I hadn't seen in quite some time. And her smirk was more of a knowing one, rather than the confident ones I'd been receiving lately.

I quickly took the glove off and went back to my spot against the wall. Emma slowly turned back around to face the werewolves in front of her.

"Look, if it feels too risky, you don't have to do this," Derek told Isaac.

Isaac took his shirt off quickly. I saw Emma's body tense in front of me. Isaac glanced over at her and she nodded. He gave her a small smile and got into the tub. Derek, Scott, and Seth held him under. He continued to struggle, coming up for air, completely transformed. Deaton kept telling the wolves to hold him. Emma was visible tense. She looked like she was being drowned.

"Now remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out," Deaton said to everyone.

"Isaac," he said calmly, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Isaac choked out, "I can hear you."

"This is Dr. Deaton. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" the vet continued.

"Yes," Isaac said softly.

"I wanna ask you about the night you found Erica and Boyd," Deaton said, "I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible. Like you're actually there."

"I – I don't want to do that," Isaac argued, "I don't want to do that."

"Just relax," Deaton encouraged, "They're just memories. You can't be hurt by a memory."

"I don't want to do that," Isaac repeated.

I looked at Emma. She was gripping the table she was sitting on so tightly that her knuckles were white. She was gritting her teeth. I wanted to comfort her so badly but I stayed in my spot.

"Now let's go back to that night," Deaton continued once Isaac was calm, "To the place you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see? Is there some kind of building? A house?"

"It's not a house. It's uh, stone," Isaac described, "Like marble."

"That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?" Deaton pressed on.

Isaac breathed, "It's dusty. Empty."

"Like an abandoned building?" Deaton suggested.

The lights started to flicker and Isaac stopped responding.

"Isaac?" Deaton asked, "Isaac?"

"Emma," Derek said softly, "You need to be over here."

She sighed and crossed over to the tub. She kneeled next to it, grabbing Isaac's hand. What the hell was that all about?

"They see me. Someone's here," Isaac said loudly.

"Relax," Deaton said again.

"No, they see me. They see me," Isaac ranted.

He screamed, struggling against the hands that held him in the tub.

"They're just memories," Deaton repeated his mantra, "Relax, relax."

Isaac relaxed against the werewolves' hands but kept his grip on Emma's hand. She moved into a sitting position, leaning against the tub.

"Now tell us what you see," Deaton pushed, "Tell us everything."

"I hear them," Isaac said as he opened his eyes, "He's talking about the full moon. Being out of control when the moon rises."

"Talking to Erica?" Deaton suggested.

"I think so," Isaac said, his teeth chattering, "I can't see her. I can't see either of them."

"Can you hear anything else?" Deaton asked, louder this time.

The lights flickered, "They're worried. They're worried what they'll do during the moon. They're worried that they're going to hurt each other."

"If they're locked in together on a full moon, they're going to tear each other apart," Derek said softly. Scott and Seth nodded.

"Isaac, we need to find them right now," Deaton pressed, "Can you see them?"

"No," Isaac answered.

"Do you know what kind of room it is? Is there any kind of marker, a number on a door, a sign?" Deaton asked.

Isaac sat straight up, gasping for air. He was still hypnotized. He let go of Emma's hand but she didn't move from her sitting position on the floor.

"They're here," he breathed.

I looked behind me to see if maybe they were here at the clinic and he wasn't hypnotized anymore but no one was behind me.

"It's alright," Deaton soothed.

"They're here," Isaac repeated, "They see me! They've found me!"

"This isn't working!" Derek yelled, "Isaac where are you?!"

"No, I can't see. It's too dark!" Isaac continued.

"Isaac, tell me where you are!" Derek kept yelling.

"I can't see!" Isaac yelled.

"You're confusing him," Deaton said calmly.

"Isaac, where are you?" Derek continued, "Tell me where you are!"

"His heartrate," Emma said loudly, "He'll go into shock. Let him go."

"Derek, let him go!" Scott yelled.

"Isaac, where are you? What did you see?" Derek yelled.

"It's a vault! It's a bank vault!" Isaac yelled, "They caught me and dragged me into a room. There's a body in there. A girl's body. I can't tell – I – I think it's – Erica's in there. She's dead. Erica's dead. The girl came and saved me. She took me out of the closet to get me out of the bank. It's a bank!"

Isaac quickly got out of his trance, shooting out of the water. Emma quickly stood up, trying not to get wet in the process.

"I saw it!" he said confidently, "I saw the name."

He stood to get out of the tub. Seth and Scott helped him to his feet. Emma handed him a towel from the table she was sitting at previously. She wrapped it around him and patted his shoulder.

"It's uh, Beacon Hills First National Bank," Isaac said, shivering, "It's an abandoned bank. They're keeping them locked inside. They're keeping them locked inside the vault."

I looked around the room. No one was going to acknowledge the fact that Isaac just told us that Erica is dead. Was I the only one who heard that?

"You don't remember what you said right before you came out of it do you?" I asked Isaac when he looked confused at everyone's reactions.

"No," Isaac said softly, looking at Emma.

"Uh, you said when they captured you, they dragged you into a room and that there was a body in it," I continued to be the only one informing him of what happened.

"What body?" he asked Emma.

"Erica," she said softly, swallowing, "You said it was Erica."

Isaac shook his head in despair. The mood around the room was a depressed one. Derek started pacing, trying to think of a plan. Emma went to her bag and pulled out a shirt and handed it to Isaac. She helped him get it on and then sat next to him on the counter. Did I read the situation wrong? Is she actually dating Isaac now and not Seth? What the hell is going on?

"She's not dead," Derek said during his pacing.

"He literally said, 'There's a dead body. It's Erica.' That doesn't exactly leave us much room for interpretation," I argued.

"Then who was in the vault with Boyd?" Derek pointed out.

"Someone else, obviously," Emma said from behind me.

"And maybe, it was the girl on the motorcycle," Scott suggested. He looked at Isaac, "The one who saved you."

"No, she wasn't like us and whoever was in the vault with Boyd was," Isaac informed us.

"What if that's like how Erica died?" I asked, "They pit them against each other during the full moon and see which one survives?"

"Like werewolf thunderdome?" Emma asked sarcastically.

I let myself smile. Of course she knew where I was going with my thought process. She smiled back and I felt like my heart was racing.

"Then we get them out tonight," Derek said, interrupting our moment.

"Be smart about this, Derek," Deaton said cryptically, "You can't just go storming in."

"If Isaac got in then so can we," Seth pointed out.

"But he didn't get through a vault door," Deaton argued.

"We need a plan," Scott suggested.

"How are we going to come up with a plan to break into a bank vault in less than 24 hours?" Derek snapped at Scott.

"Uh, I think somebody already did," I said, looking at my phone, "It says, 'Beacon Hills First National closes its doors three months after vault robbery.' It doesn't say here how it was robbed but it probably won't take that long to find out."

"How long?" Derek demanded.

"It's the internet, Derek. Okay? Minutes," I said confidently.

 **Emma's POV**

"Boys," I heard the sheriff's voice but couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, "And Emma apparently."

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in Stiles' room. Stiles, Scott, and I had come back here after the clinic to research the bank robbery. It took a lot of convincing on my end for Stiles to let me help but it worked. We hadn't said one word to each other since I entered his bedroom. Now, however, his arm was around my waist and he pulled me closer to his body.

"Hey," the sheriff tried again, "Time to wake up."

Nothing. I still hadn't moved. Mostly cause I was internally freaking out about cuddling with Stiles but also because I didn't want it to end.

"Boys," the sheriff said louder, "Boys!"

Stiles jumped behind me, causing me to move closer to him than I was before. Scott stirred in his chair, sitting up all the way. I moved away from Stiles to sit against his bed.

The sheriff sighed, "I have to get to work. You three, get to school."

"Dad," Stiles practically lunged across me as his dad turned to leave, "Heather?"

The sheriff looked between Stiles and I and then sighed, "Nothing yet."

Stiles sighed, sitting on his knees, no longer across me. He ripped a paper that had gotten stuck to him, away from his body.

"Ten hours and nothing," Stiles said, standing to move to his bed.

"We're going to find something," Scott said hopeful.

I scoffed, "Finding something doesn't make Erica any less dead."

"Or Boyd any less about to be dead," Stiles added.

"We still have time," Scott told both of us.

"Is this whole like remain optimistic in the face of complete and utter disaster thing a part of the 'Be a Better Scott McCall' program?" Stiles asked sarcastically.

"Um," Scott said looking down, "Not if it doesn't work."

"No, it works," Stiles sighed.

He looked at the papers in his hands. Something must have caught his eye because his heartbeat spiked and he held one paper very tightly.

"Oh," he said ominously, "Dad! Dad!"

Stile shoved the paper into Scott's arms and ran after his dad. I got up to look over Scott's shoulder. His dad was one of the primary investigators on the case. Stiles was talking to his dad for a while before he came back to tell us the plan. We had to get to school soon otherwise we would be late.

"I have to get home and change before school," I said standing up from Stiles' bed.

"I think you still have clothes here," Stiles said with a casual shrug.

I looked at him like he was crazy, "Why do you still have my clothes?"

Stiles just laughed, "You're literally wearing one of my flannels right now."

I looked down. That was where this shirt came from. I knew I had never actually purchased it. I quickly untied the bottom of the shirt and shrugged it off of my shoulders. I handed it over to Stiles.

"Here you go," I said with a smirk.

His tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip. His eyes slowly scanned over my body. I suddenly felt very exposed in his bedroom with just shorts and a tank top on.

"Thank you?" he said more as a question, "But that doesn't exactly help you right now."

I tried to fight him on it but he was right. We didn't have time for me to go home and change. We especially didn't have time for the two of us to be having a stare down in his bedroom.

"Fine," I said, "Where are the clothes I left here?"

"Top drawer," he said, going over to his own closet.

I crossed to his dresser, opening the top drawer. I was met with a small amount of my clothing but enough for me to question why Stiles had held onto them. I pulled out a black skirt and a Spider-Man t-shirt. It was more old me than new me but it would have to do. Considering my other options were a corset or many different sports bras. Without thinking, I began to take off my shorts. I didn't realize that it was weird to be changing in Stiles' room when we aren't together until I had my tank over my head.

"Did you – oh sweet jesus," I heard Stiles' voice.

"Shit, sorry," I said quickly trying to cover myself with my hands. Like that would work.

"No, uh, it's fine," he said scratching the back of his neck but not looking away, "I was just making sure you found clothes to wear."

I nodded, "Yep, it's all good."

"Great, that's uh, great," he stuttered. He gave me one last look, nodded, and then went back to his closet.

I sighed and shook my head. Today was going to be a long day.

 **Stiles' POV**

"Okay! See this?" I said pointing at the blueprint I got from my dad, "This is how they got in. Through the rooftop air conditioning vent. It leads down, inside, into the wall of the vault. Which is here," I circled it, "Okay? One of the robbers was lowered into the shaft. Now, that space is small, it took them about 12 hours to drill into that wall, which is stone by the way. Then for the rest of the night, siphoned the money up to the guys on the roof through the shaft in the wall. Boom."

"Can we fit in there?" Scott asked worried.

"Yes we can," I assured him, "But very, very barely. And they also patched the wall obviously so we are going to need a drill of some kind. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit -."

"Forget the drill," Derek said.

"Sorry?" I asked confused.

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" Derek asked.

"What are you gonna do?" I asked him, "Huh? What are you gonna do, Derek? Are you gonna punch through the wall?"

"Yes, Stiles," Derek said confidently, "I'm gonna punch through the wall."

"Okay, big guy," I said sarcastically, "Let's see that big ole fist. Make it, come on. Get it out there, don't be scared. Big bad wolf, yeah, look at that," he lifted his clenched fist, I put my palm out in front of it, "Okay, you see this? That is about 3 inches of room to gather enough force to punch through solid -."

He punched me in the hand, causing me to lose my balance and fall backwards. I grabbed onto the table for support. Clenching my wrist and whining in pain.

"Derek," Emma said sternly. She crossed over to me and took my wrist in her hand. She glanced up at me, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Yep, he can do it."

She smirked. She turned to go back to her spot at the table, next to Derek.

"I can get through the wall," Derek said confidently, "Who's following me down?"

"Don't look at me," Peter said from the stairs, "I'm not up to fighting speed yet. And honestly? With Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself."

"So, I'm supposed to just let them die?" Derek argued.

"One of them is already dead," Peter said with a shrug.

"We don't know that," Derek argued.

"Do I have to remind you what we're up against?" Peter pointed out the obvious, "A pack of alphas. All of them killers. And if that's not enough to scare your testicles back into your stomach than try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant alpha. Sure, Erica and Boyd are sweet kids and they will be missed."

"Can someone kill him again, please?" Emma asked, crossing her arms.

"Derek," Peter continued, "Seriously, not worth the risk."

"What about you?" Derek asked.

I assumed he was talking to me, "Yeah if you want me to come."

"Not you," he said.

"Scott?" I asked, pointing at my best friend with my thumb.

"I don't know about Erica but if Boyd is still alive, we have to do something," Scott said, "We have to try."

"But?" Derek asked.

"Who's the other girl? The one locked in there with Boyd," Scott asked.

"We'll figure that out," Seth spoke for the first time all night.

"I have you right?" Derek asked him.

"Is that even a question," Seth said with a smirk.

"Baker?" Derek asked, looking at Emma.

Before she could even respond, Seth and I had already answered for her.

"Absolutely not," I said.

At the same time, Seth said, "She's not going."

"Wow guys thanks for letting me make my own decisions," she said with a smirk.

"Remember what you promised your mom," Seth reminded her, touching her shoulder.

Emma scowled, "You made the same promise, buddy."

"Yeah, but she isn't my mom," Seth pointed out.

"Wow, such great logic," Emma said with a snort.

"You aren't going. End of discussion," Seth said.

"You can't tell me what to do," Emma said moving away from him.

"Em," I started. She looked at me with wide eyes, "Maybe just sit this one out?"

She slowly nodded, "Fine but I'm not happy about it."

I put my hands up in surrender, "Fair enough."

 **Emma's POV**

Why was Stiles being nice to me? I mean I know that we are in the same circle of friends but he literally was shooting me daggers with his eyes 48 hours ago and now he's back to protecting me. And he called me 'Em'. When was the last time he called me that?

Deciding that I needed a break from the Stiles weirdness, I went up the stairs in the loft to check on Isaac. He was sleeping but his heartbeat was normal so I left the room after I knew he was okay. As I descended the stairs, I saw Peter and Stiles talking in the kitchen area.

"Isaac is okay in case either of you were wondering," I told them.

"We weren't," Peter said from the couch.

I scoffed, "Why are you still here?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said.

"Hey," Stiles said, coming over to us, "leave her alone."

He pulled me over to the window, away from Peter.

"Thanks," I said softly, "But I can handle myself."

"Oh, I have no doubts about that," he said with a small smile.

I shook my head, "Why are you being so nice to me all of the sudden?"

He scratched the back of his neck, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that ever since school started you've given me looks that could kill and been rude to me but today you were nice and included me in things. Why?" I asked, crossing my arms.

He shrugged, "I don't know. I don't feel that angry anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very sensitive about our break up but I don't have this blinding rage anymore."

I laughed, "Well that's good then."

"Are you dating Isaac?" Stiles asked abruptly.

"No, why would you think that?" I asked.

"Are you dating Seth?" he asked, ignoring my question.

"No. Stiles, I'm not dating anyone," I said, running my hands through my hair.

"But you and Seth - ."

"Are practically siblings," I stated.

"And you and Isaac?" he asked, crossing his arms.

I sighed. I could be honest, or I could lie. But considering I wanted to move forward with Stiles, honesty was the best policy.

"I'm not going to lie to you," I started, "We hooked up a couple times this summer but then we realized that we are better as friends. We don't work together. But he doesn't have any friends. So that's all we are. Friends."

He nodded, "I don't know why you're being so honest with me."

"You deserve to know the truth," I said softly.

"Wow, Emma 'The Professional Liar' Baker seems to be evolving," he said with a smirk.

"What can I say? New year, new me," I said with fake confidence.

"I like the old you just fine," he said with a sad smile.

"Can you two stop being so sickeningly sweet with one another, please?" Peter snapped, pulling us out of our conversation.

"I can't take waiting around like this," Stiles said, changing the subject, "It's nerve racking. My nerves are racked. They're severely racked."

"I could beat you unconscious," Peter suggested.

"You think Erica is really dead?" he asked me.

"You think I really care?" Peter answered. We both looked at him with disdain.

"I don't understand the bank though," I said softly.

"Right? Like why wouldn't they chain them up in some underground lair?" Stiles asked, "They're an alpha pack, shouldn't they have a lair?"

I shook my head, "They're an alpha pack not Bond villains."

"Wait a sec, wait a sec," Stiles said, pacing the loft, "Maybe they're living there, ya know? Like maybe the bank vault reminds them of their little wolf dens."

Peter scoffed, "Wolf dens."

"Yeah, wolf dens," Stiles said looking at Peter, "Where do you live?"

"In an underground network of caves hidden deep in the woods," Peter said sarcastically.

"Whoa, really?" Stiles asked.

I facepalmed.

Peter laughed, "No you idiot, I live in an apartment downtown."

"Okay," I said, "But that proves that there's something off about the bank. And, why wait around for the full moon?"

"Yeah? Why not just kill them whenever they want to?" Stiles suggested.

"Maybe they think it's poetic," Peter said, gesturing with his hands.

"They've already had three full moons to be poetic," I pointed out.

"And here you two have only had one full hour to be so annoying - ," Peter stopped mid-sentence.

"No, go ahead. Finish what you were saying. We're annoying?" Stiles said sarcastically.

"What are the walls made of?" Peter asked, suddenly standing up.

Stiles looked around the loft, "I don't know like wood, or brick?"

I shook my head, "No, the walls of the vault."

Peter nodded, "Yes, the vault. What are the walls made out of?" He flipped through the blueprint, "Where would it say that? It's not here. Where would it say the type of materials, the type of stone?"

Stiles realized what he was asking and quickly found the book we were reading earlier.

"Here, it's gotta be in there," he said, handing the book to Peter.

We tried to quickly look through the book but we didn't want to miss anything. I felt like I was missing something. Like I should know what is going on and why they are being kept in a vault but I have no idea. I'm as lost as everyone else.

"Shouldn't you be able to see this in the future?" Peter asked, frustrated.

I sighed, "I'm trying harder than you know right now."

Stiles put his hand on my shoulder, "We'll find it."

Peter turned the page. Stiles turned toward the book on the table, he read the page.

"Wait, that's it," Stiles said, pointing to the page.

"Hecatolite," Peter said softly.

"Is that awful? That sounds awful," Stiles said, worried.

"Get them on the phone," I said, "Call them. Now!"

"Okay," Stiles said, pulling out his phone, "Why?"

"Cause Boyd and that girl aren't going to kill each other," Peter said.

"They're going to kill Derek, Scott, and Seth," I finished.


	3. Chapter 3

**I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Emma's POV**

"Hey, Lyds," I said answering my phone, "Now's not really a good time."

"Emma please. I need your help," her voice sounded distant and shaken.

"Wait," I said, getting up to walk away from Peter and Stiles, "What's wrong?"

"I – I don't," she stuttered, "I don't know how – I just found."

"Lyds, talk to me. Where are you?" I asked, getting worried.

"The p-pool," she stuttered out.

"I'll be there in ten," I said, "Will you be okay until I get there?"

I heard her whimper, "Yeah."

"I'll be there soon, Lyds," I said going to grab my bag from the living room area, "I promise it'll be okay."

She hung up on me. I looked up at Peter and Stiles who were staring at me with concerned looks.

"Can I borrow the Jeep?" I asked Stiles.

He nodded, "I'll drive you."

I didn't even try to argue. I didn't want to. Lydia had sounded so scared on the phone. It made me feel terrified.

Stiles and I ran down to the parking lot of the lofts and got into the Jeep. The drive was relatively quiet for the majority of the time. I was lost in my thoughts about why Lydia was at the public pool and why she was so scared.

"Em," Stiles said softly, "I don't know where I'm going."

"Right," I said with a sigh, "The pool."

He nodded. His grip on the steering wheel tightened. He looked at me and then back to the road. His anxiety rolled off of him in waves.

"I don't know what happened," I said, answering his unspoken question, "She just sounded shaken up and I know something is wrong."

"It's none of my business," he said.

"Of course it's your business," I said, giving him a look, "Anything that happens in this pack is your business."

He shook his head, "This pack?"

"That's what we are," I said with a shrug.

"I guess," he said with a sigh as he turned into the parking lot of the pool.

I got out of the car before he had completely parked it.

"Lydia?" I cried, running onto the pool deck, "Lydia?" She came into view and she looked completely rattled. Her hair was wild, she had tears running down her face, and she had her arms wrapped around her body. "Lydia, are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she breathed out, "That, over there, not okay."

Stiles and I both turned to look at the lifeguard stand. There was a body sitting in the chair on top of the platform. A dead body. I looked at Stiles. I felt the color drain from my face. I didn't know how to handle this. Blood was dripping from the neck, all the way down to the pool deck. It looked like a fucking horror movie.

"Yeah, all right. I'm going to call my dad," he said pulling out his phone.

"I already called 911," Lydia said frantically.

"You called the police before you called us?" Stiles asked.

"Technically, I called the police and Seth before I called Emma," Lydia said annoyed. Stiles and I exchanged a look, "Was I supposed to call you first when I find a dead body?"

"Yes," Stiles said flailing his arms.

I rolled my eyes. Pulling my phone out, I quickly called Scott.

"I figured that Seth already informed you, but Lydia found a body at the pool. Stiles and I are with her now," I said before Scott could even say hello.

"Do you think it was them?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," I said, putting the phone on speakerphone so Stiles could answer too.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yep," I said, "throat ripped out, blood everywhere.

"It's like the freaking _Shining_ over here. If two little twin girls come out of the woods, start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised," Stiles ranted.

"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" Scott asked us.

I grimaced and looked at Stiles. I silently pleaded with him to be the one to look. "Make sure it was them?" I asked.

"Scott, who else is going around ripping throats out?" Stiles asked sarcastically.

"Please just do it," Scott's voice said exasperated.

Stiles mouthed 'no' to me but I crossed my arms and shook my head. He threw his arms up over his head in annoyance but moved over to the body. He paused, and glared at the hand of the victim.

"Emma," he said, pointing.

I followed the direction that his finger was pointed in. There was a purity ring on the victim's finger. Blood dripped around the clean metal of the ring. I looked at Stiles, confused. What did this have to do with the girl and Boyd?

The cops started to arrive. They separated Stiles, Lydia, and I into different ambulances to check us out and question what had happened. We told them the truth. That Lydia had been driving by and saw something suspicious and called the police. She got scared so she called us. Naturally, we got there before the police could. When I was finally told that I could go home, I went to go find Stiles.

"Hey," I said softly, "I've been cleared."

"Me too," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm gonna make sure Lyds gets home safe," I explained, running my hand through my hair.

He nodded, "I'll come with you."

We walked over to where Lydia was with an officer. She told us that the officer was going to escort her home. Stiles and I went to the Jeep. Without communicating with each other, Stiles started following Lydia home, just like I had secretly wanted to do. I know she had a police escort but I still wanted to see for my own eyes that she was okay and safe in her own home. When we pulled up to Lydia's house, Stiles and I got out to follow her in. She looked at us and rolled her eyes but didn't argue, leading us up the stairs and to her room. I took a deep breath, starting to remember the last time that I was in Lydia's room. I looked at Stiles and either he didn't remember or he had a very good poker face.

"You didn't have to follow me home," Lydia said, breaking the silence.

"We wanted to make sure you got in okay," I said softly.

"I had a police escort," Lydia pointed out.

"I know the inner workings of that force, all right?" Stiles snapped, "They're not nearly as reliable as people think."

Lydia thought for a moment, "Well, you also didn't have to follow me into my room."

Stiles and I looked at each other. She had us there. We had no excuse. We just wanted to make sure she was truly okay. Plus I had a few questions to ask her.

"Uh, yeah I don't have an answer for that," I said, looking at my feet.

"We can leave," Stiles said, putting his hand on my elbow.

"Are you really gonna go without asking me the question that you've been dying to ask me?" Lydia said with a soft snort.

"Well, I'm not…I haven't been dying to ask anything," Stiles stuttered, "No questions here for Stiles."

I sat next to Lydia on her bed, "No questions, unless you want to tell us something?"

She sighed, "I can see it on his face."

I looked at Stiles. He looked flustered. He flailed his arms around the room like he was shocked that she would say that about him.

"Maybe my face just has, like, a naturally interrogatory expression?" he suggested.

"Well, your interrogatory expression is getting on my nerves," Lydia hissed.

I chuckled, "Yeah, same."

A serious look crossed Lydia's face, "The answer is, I have no clue how I ended up finding that body. I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car."

I put my hand on Lydia's shoulder, "Hey, it happened to me before too. We'll figure it out."

"Yeah," Stiles interjected, "But the last time something like this happened…"

"I know," Lydia said with a scared look, "Derek's uncle."

"Peter," Stiles and I said at the same time.

Lydia shook her head, "Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I just want to go to bed."

"Right," Stiles said, moving towards the door, "We'll get going."

I looked at Stiles, "Can you give us a second?"

He paused in the doorway but nodded. Then he exited Lydia's bedroom, going down the stairs and out the door. I turned to face Lydia.

"What?" she asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What's going on between you and Seth?" I asked, getting to the point.

A small smile spread across her face, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you called him first tonight when you found a dead body," I pointed out.

"I called the police first," she argued.

"And don't think that I haven't noticed the longing gazes you guys give each other," I pressed on.

She blushed, "Fine. I like him but he doesn't seem interested in me. Besides, you said it yourself, he has a girlfriend."

I rolled my eyes, "I just said that so you would get off my case. Are you sure he doesn't feel the same?"

"Whatever the case may be, he went to that party last night to meet another girl. I know why he was there. I overheard him talking to Scott about it. And it's fine cause I don't want a boyfriend. I want a distraction. I think he's the longtime commitment type," Lydia explained.

I sighed, "Just don't count him out completely, okay?"

She nodded, "Isn't this a weird topic for you?"

"Why? Cause we used to date?" I asked, "It's fine. Seth and I are not interested in each other like that anymore. I promise you."

"Fine," she sighed, "I just hope he doesn't expect me to wait for him to make a move. I will move on and find someone else if I have to."

"You're Lydia Martin. Lydia Martin waits around for no man," I said with a smile.

She smirked, "I like the sound of that."

 **Stiles' POV**

I was driving Emma home after the longest night of my life. She was riding in the passenger seat of the Jeep like nothing had changed. Her long legs were folded up underneath herself and she played with her fingers. She was nervous.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She looked up at me with wide eyes. Then, realizing that I was just checking on her, not mad or anything, her face softened.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking," she said softly.

"About?" I asked, silently wondering if I was crossing some kind of invisible line.

She shook her head, "I should have felt all of the things that were going to go wrong today."

"Don't say that," I said looking over at her, "You tried your best."

"Did I though?" she asked rhetorically, "I mean I should have known that Lydia wasn't okay. I should have known about the walls of the vault. I should have known that Derek, Scott, and Seth were going to be attacked."

I put my hand on her knee, "You tried your best."

She looked at my hand on her knee and then brought her eyes up to my face slowly. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a ringtone. Snapping her eyes away from mine, she grabbed my phone out of the middle console.

"It's Melissa," she said, handing me the phone.

I took it from her, bringing it up to my ear, "Hi Melissa."

"Stiles," she breathed into the phone, "I need you to come down to the hospital. There's something you need to see about the body you guys found tonight."

"Roger that," I said, turning in the opposite direction of Emma's house. "Be there soon."

I hung up the phone and dropped it back in between Emma and me. I looked over at her to see if she had heard the phone call or not. She was playing with her fingers again. That nervous habit made my heart leap in a way that it hadn't all summer. I missed seeing her like this.

"Hospital?" Emma said softly.

"Yeah," I said looking back at the road, "Melissa wants to show us something." She nodded. "But you probably already knew that."

She chuckled, "Yeah, I was listening in."

I nodded but didn't say anything. We drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. Parking the Jeep, I looked over at her. She got out of the car without meeting my eyes and started to walk towards the hospital. I sighed and followed after her. We walked up to Melissa as soon as we entered the building.

"Hey," I said softly.

"Hey," she said, backing away from the nurses' station, "Over here. And if you tell anyone that I showed you this, I swear to God, I will kill you painfully and slowly."

"Why do you want to show me a body I've already seen?" I asked, struggling against her grip on my arm.

"Because you haven't seen everything," Melissa said softly.

She took us into the morgue. Emma's face was the most pale I had ever seen it. I grabbed her hand, without thinking. She looked at me with wide eyes but didn't let go. Melissa led us to a table with a body on it. She lifted the sheet and both Emma and I flinched backwards. Emma buried her head in my arm.

"See this around his neck?" Melissa asked, oblivious to Emma's freak out, "That's a ligature mark. That means that he was strangled with something like cord, rope…"

"Ah, okay, wait a second," I said. Emma pulled her head away from my arm and began to inspect the body from a distance. "What kind of werewolf strangles someone?"

"That's not very werewolf-y," Emma said softly.

Melissa nodded at her, "My thoughts exactly. And then there's this."

She led us to the head of the body. Emma let go of my hand and went to look over Melissa's shoulder. I missed the feeling of her hand in mine but I pushed it out of my mind. Melissa tilted the head and Emma gagged.

"Is that brain matter?" she asked, looking away, "Yeah, it's brain matter, of course."

"See the indentation?" Melissa asked me, "He was hit in the back of the head, hard enough to kill him. In fact, any one of these things could have killed him. I mean someone seriously wanted this poor kid dead."

"All right, so then this couldn't have been Boyd or Cora, you know?" I concluded, "They wouldn't have done all that. So maybe this is just one murder? I mean, maybe it's just a random coincidence."

"I don't think it was just one," Melissa said ominously.

"How come?" Emma asked softly.

"Because that girl over there," Melissa nodded her head toward another body on another table, "She's got the exact same injuries."

We looked over at the other body. Emma moved over to it first, looking at Melissa with wide eyes. Melissa moved to the head of the body, moving the sheet back. I felt my heart leap into my throat. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I felt tears in my eyes. Emma's hand slowly wrapped around mine and squeezed tightly.

"The ME said this one wasn't just strangled. Whoever did it used a garrote, which is a stick that you put through the rope, and you just kind of keep twisting," Melissa said, looking at the body of a girl I had known my entire life.

"Melissa," Emma said softly. She moved closer to me. Melissa looked up at us and realized I wasn't okay.

"Stiles," she said softly, "Oh my god, did you know her?"

I nodded, unable to find my voice. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. The only thought going through my mind was that I was the last one that Heather saw. I could have saved her from this.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even think," Melissa said, grabbing the sheet to cover up Heather's body.

"I was," I said, my voice cracking. The tears were slowly rolling down my face, "I was at her party. It was her birthday. Her name was Heather."

I lifted my arm that wasn't attached to Emma's to wipe the tears off of my face. I can't believe she's actually dead.

"Okay," Melissa said, now in mom mood, "We need to call your father, because you're a witness."

A thought dawned on me then. I was a witness because Heather was trying to lose her virginity to me. I thought back to the guy that we had found. He had a purity ring. The two had to be connected somehow.

"Stiles?" Emma said pulling me out of my thoughts, "What are you thinking?"

I looked at Melissa, "Has anyone else been through here tonight? Any other bodies, or even anybody missing?"

"Uh, no, no bodies," Melissa said confused and concerned at the same time, "But, um, two girls. They brought the first one in, Caitlin, for a tox screen, and then I overheard that her girlfriend, Emily, just disappeared. I mean, they were out in the woods and…"

"Nobody's found her yet?" I asked, frantic.

"I don't know," Melissa said slowly.

"Okay, first one," I said.

"Caitlin," Melissa repeated.

"Is she here?" I asked, "Is she here right now?"

"I think so," Melissa said softly.

"Okay, where?" I said, pushing past her.

Melissa tried to stop me, "Okay, okay, wait. Just wait a minute."

"I have to talk to her," I explained.

"Why?" Melissa asked.

"Because I think I know what's happening," I said.

Emma nodded, "Then we need to find her."

She squeezed my hand reassuringly and then let go. She started toward the exit of the morgue. Melissa followed her out, catching up to her to tell her where the girl's room was. We found it quickly. We filed in. Melissa stood watch at the door to make sure that the police didn't come back to talk to Caitlin. Emma and I stood next to the girl's bed.

"We weren't doing anything that bad," she explained, "I mean, I've camped out there plenty of times."

"Right, but why tonight?" I pressed, wanting her to prove my theory.

"We wanted to be alone for one night," Caitlin said slightly embarrassed, "Emily lives with her mom, and I have three roommates. Not exactly romantic settings, you know?"

"How long have you two been together?" Emma asked softly.

"Three months," Caitlin said.

"And you wanted to make it romantic," I repeated.

"Yeah, you know, because…," she shrugged and trailed off.

"Because it was her first time," Emma finished for her with a small smile.

Caitlin closed her eyes tightly to stop from crying. She looked at Emma who gave her a reassuring smile and put her hand on her shoulder.

"They're going to find her. Aren't they?" she asked us.

Neither of us answered. I looked down at my shoes. Emma took a deep breath. I knew she knew something but wasn't saying it. She wrapped her arms around herself. Caitlin sighed, and nodded solemnly.

We left the room shortly after. Scott met us at the hospital. We took him to the morgue to show him what his mom had showed us. We explained what the injuries were. Emma still seemed a little freaked out but not gagging this time.

"So Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?" Scott asked.

"You're gonna wish they did," I said as I pulled the sheet back over Heather's head.

"Why?" Scott asked, oblivious.

"We're not exactly sure yet," I started, looking at Emma to back me up.

"The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily, eventually they are going to find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather, the guy Lydia found at the pool, all three were virgins. And they're all going to have the same three injuries," Emma said, not looking at me or Scott.

"Strangled, throat slashed, head bashed in. It's called the threefold death," I finished for her.

"So if these aren't random killings, then what are they?" Scott asked.

"Sacrifices," Emma and I said in unison.

"Human sacrifices," I added.

We left the morgue. Emma felt less tense as she stood next to me. Scott went to go find his mom, telling us that he would see us at school. It was then that I realized that Heather was actually dead. Heather was dead and I was the last person who saw her alive. I felt the weight of that on my shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked softly. I turned to look at her. Her face was clouded with concern. I shook my head. "Maybe I should drive?"

I nodded, not knowing what to say. She took the keys from me and led me out of the hospital and to the Jeep. We got in, this time me in the passenger seat. She drove us to my house but then I realized she would have to walk home and that didn't sit right with me.

"How will you get home?" I asked softly.

She shrugged, "I'll walk. Or call Seth."

"Do you want to come in for a bit?" I asked, looking away from her.

"Do you want me to?" she asked so softly that I almost didn't hear it.

I nodded, "I don't want to be alone right now."

She swallowed. Then got out of the Jeep. I followed after her up to the house. I unlocked the front door, opening it wide enough to let both of us in. I started going up to my room, knowing that she was following me. We got to my room and we both sat on the edge of my bed, not saying anything.

"She was your friend," Emma said, more like she was stating a fact rather than asking a question.

I nodded, "Our moms were best friends."

"I'm so sorry, Stiles," she said putting her hand on my shoulder.

I turned my head to look at her. She looked so effortlessly beautiful in that moment. I wanted to remember it for the rest of my life. I glanced down at her lips. Before she could stop me, I closed the gap that was between us. I crashed my lips on hers. I moved my hand to cradle her neck and get tangled in her hair. She squeaked in surprise when my lips touched hers but quickly recovered and was kissing me back deeply. I nudged her mouth open with my tongue, tilting her head to have better access to her mouth. I let my tongue explore her mouth in a way that I hadn't done in months. Slowly, she pulled away. I opened my eyes to see her blue ones slightly watery. I moved in to continue our make-out session but she abruptly stood up before I could reach her.

"Stiles," she said, breathless, "What was that?"

"The best kiss of my life," I said, breathing hard myself.

She ran her hand through her hair, "Why?"

"Why what?" I asked, confused.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked softly.

"Because I wanted to," I explained.

"But," she started. She shook her head, "We shouldn't do this."

"Why?" I asked, standing up.

"Because," she said softly, "you're upset about your friend."

I shook my head, "That's not why I kissed you."

"But, it means your vulnerable," she said softly, "I'm not in the habit of taking advantage of the vulnerable."

I laughed, "You act like I'm drunk and can't consent right now. I kissed you, remember?"

She smirked, "I should head home."

"You don't have to," I could practically hear the begging in my voice.

"I do," she said, running her hand through her hair again, "Today, with you and I getting along and working together, it was great. I don't want to ruin it by staying and doing something that neither of us are ready for yet."

"You trying to say you can't resist me, Baker?" I joked for the first time all night.

She laughed a genuine laugh, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"Maybe you're right," I said with a small smile, "We don't want to do anything we might regret."

She nodded, "Thanks for understanding, Stiles."

"Of course," I said, "We're on the same page."

I had kissed her because I wanted to get back together, not because I was upset. It took everything in me to not fight her about leaving. Fuck regrets. I have spent the past three months sewing my wild oats so to speak and everything still ends up being about Emma. I can't get her out of my mind. That has to mean something. All of my anger towards her has completely faded away. I don't know why but I think it has something to do with the fact that she is trying so hard to act like she's okay and like everything is normal. If she can do that, the least I can do is try to forgive her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Warning: lots of swearing. I'm trying not to use it as much, but it's proving to be difficult.**

 **As always, read and review.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"You did what?" Scott practically screamed at me as we walked to the locker room.

"I kissed her," I mumbled.

"Why?" he asked still at a high volume.

I rolled my eyes, "Cause I wanted to." He gave me a look to go on, so I did. "It's not like a want to get back together with her. I mean I do and last night, I told myself that that was why I did it. But now, I – I don't know man, I just wanted to. I felt like if I didn't kiss her then, I would never get another chance."

"Wow, dude," Scott said with wide eyes.

"What?" I snapped.

"I didn't realize you still had such strong feelings for her," he mumbled as we entered the locker room.

"Yeah, well, I do," I said going over to my locker to get changed for practice.

"Anyway, moving on to the task at hand. What do you think happened to that kid?" Scott asked as he began to change.

"I don't know," I said with a shrug, "He was probably taken. You're sure he didn't just go home?"

"I looked everywhere. It's like he just vanished. He left his car, his dog," Scott explained.

"Okay, was he like, could he have been a virgin?" I asked, trying to make a connection, "Did he look like a virgin? Was he virginal?"

"No," Scott said with a smirk, "Definitely not. Deaton makes me have sex with all of his clients. It's a new policy."

I just blinked at Scott. I was so surprised by his sarcasm that I didn't notice Seth coming over to us.

"What about having sex with Deaton's clients? Are you a veterinarian prostitute, McCall?" Seth asked with a smirk.

"No, I don't know if he was a virgin," Scott said, ignoring Seth, "And why are you talking like he's already dead? He's just missing."

"Missing and presumed dead because he's probably a virgin, Scott," I said frantically.

"And you're worried about that, why?" Seth asked, crossing his arms. Before I could answer, "Oh, right. Cause you're a virgin."

"You really think I dated Emma and didn't get it in?" I seethed, loudly.

Seth and Scott exchanged a look. Scott's face was covered in a shocked and slightly pained expression. Seth looked amused. Like I had somehow fallen into his trap. Shit. He was probably going to go tell Emma about our 'locker room talk'. I looked around the room and saw that all of the boys were looking at our group. They had noticed my sudden outburst.

"Mr. Lahey," Coach's voice interrupted my panic, "Happy to have you back. Not happy that you're late."

"Sorry, Coach," Isaac said under his breath. He came over to where we were standing by the lockers.

"I'll remind you all that cross country is not optional for lacrosse players," Coach ranted, "I don't need you turning into a bunch of fat asses in the offseason." He looked at Danny and Isaac who had just taken their shirts off. "So, work on that."

 **Emma's POV**

Fuck Seth. I cannot believe he is making me join the cross-country team. And fuck my mom for agreeing that this can count as part of my training. I don't run. I hate running. I hate exercise of all kind. Unless it's hand to hand combat because at least then I get to hurt something. This is so unfair. I don't know any of the girls on this team which made me realize that I only actually have two girl friends. So now, I'm standing in the locker room, watching everybody in their cliques, and waiting for us to go outside so I can at least see one person I know.

We exit the locker room and meet up with the boys in the hallway. Coach is giving them an inspiring speech about the positives of cross country. I hang back, towards the back of the group, waiting for anyone to realize that I'm there. And sure enough, there's the boys that I hate to love. All in a group, walking down the hallway. I fall into step next to Seth. Isaac is on his other side. Scott and Stiles are behind us.

"I hate you so much," I mumbled to Seth.

He smirked, "Just think of how this will help you run away from hunters."

I shot him a glare, "Yeah, that doesn't make this anymore appeasing."

We got outside of the school. I started stretching, trying to waste time before I actually had to run. Stiles and Scott were behind me, whispering about something. Seth and Isaac were in front of the group, getting ready to start. Suddenly, the twins came up behind Isaac and Seth. I heard their heart rates spike and turned, ready to intervene if I needed to. And then I smelled it. The twins were werewolves. They had to be a part of the alpha pack. Coach blew his whistle and everyone ran off. Isaac's heart beat was still crazy.

I grabbed his wrist, "Isaac."

"It's them," he said. Then he ran off, through the group to the front.

"Isaac, wait," I called after him.

"Isaac, stop," Scott tried.

"I got him," Seth said to us.

I looked at Scott and Stiles and shrugged. Scott ran after Seth and Isaac. I stayed where I was. I didn't really feel like fighting alphas today. I started jogging, to catch up with the rest of the group. Stiles fell into step beside me.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hi," I said, not looking at him.

"About last night," he started.

"Honestly, can we not talk about it?" I asked, waving him off, "It was just a kiss. Nothing else happened. You were upset and I was there. It's fine."

"No, Emma, that's not - ," he started.

"Really, Stiles, it's fine," I cut him off.

I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I had talked about it with my mom and Seth. I was talked out. It was just a kiss. Granted, a kiss that he initiated but still. It was only a kiss. How could he go from hating my guts to kissing me in 48 hours? Boys are so confusing and dumb.

"So, since when are you on the cross country team?" Stiles asked, slightly panting.

"Since Seth convinced my mom that it would help me stay in shape for training," I said through gritted teeth.

"He's not wrong," Stiles said softly.

"That's not the -," I began to argue but I was cut off by an ear piercing scream.

I looked at Stiles for the first time all day. He looked back at me with wide eyes. We ran toward where the loud scream came from. We came across the rest of the group in front of a bloody body tied to a tree. Instinctively, I cowered into Stiles' side. I was gagging. The smell of blood was so strong.

"It's him, isn't it?" I heard Stiles ask. I glanced up to see Scott, Seth, and Isaac standing next to us. Scott nodded. Stiles wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, running his fingers through my hair. "That's just great."

 **Stiles' POV**

Of course, because there was a dead body found, my dad immediately shows up.

"Out of the way," he said shoving through kids, "Get out of the way. Back up! Get these kids out of here!"

I slowly untangled myself from Emma, reluctantly I might add. She looked at me with a shy smile. Her face was flushed. I couldn't tell if it was from the running or the moment we just had. She moved to stand next to Seth who smirked down at her. She punched him in the shoulder.

"Dad," I said, moving over to my father, "Come here, look. It's the same as the others. You see?"

"Yeah, I see it," he said, exasperated, "Do me a favor? Go back to school." I just stared at him in awe. They just found a dead body and I'm supposed to go back to school? He looked at Coach, "Coach, give us a hand here?"

"You heard the man," Coach yelled, "Nothing to see here. Probably just some homeless kid."

"Coach," Scott said softly, "He was a senior."

Coach sighed, "Oh god, he wasn't on the team, was he?"

A girl came running out of nowhere, "Kyle! Oh god, Kyle!"

Her friend pulled her back, away from the body. I cringed. I could not imagine finding someone I loved dead like that. It would probably kill me.

I looked over at the twins. Now that we knew that they were werewolves, I saw them in a different light. They looked confused about the murders. Like they had no idea what was happening either. I ran to catch up with everyone else.

"Did you see the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, you mean like they had no idea what happened?" Emma responded, crossing her arms. She had noticed it too.

"No, they knew," Isaac argued.

"The kid was strangled with a garrote, alright?" I backed up Emma, "Are we the only ones recognizing the lack of werewolfitude in these murders?"

Seth, Scott, and Isaac looked at Emma and me. It was obvious that we were outnumbered but Emma and I were right. I could feel it. The sacrifices had to be real.

"Okay, you think it's a coincidence that they turn up and people start dying?" Isaac argued.

"Well, no," Emma said, "But I still don't think it's them."

"Scott? Seth?" Isaac asked after a tense moment, "What about you guys?"

"I don't know yet," Scott said.

"I don't either. We don't have enough information," Seth pointed out.

"I'm not saying that we do, I'm just saying that werewolves don't strangle people, slice their throats, and bash their heads in, okay?" Emma said, getting annoyed.

"Hold up," I said, stopping Emma, "Scott, you don't know yet?"

"Well," he said, gesturing to Isaac, "He has a good point." I looked at him in shock, "Seriously, guys, human sacrifices?"

"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glowsticks. Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear. And if I were to stab you right now, it would just magically heal. Not to mention, this one," I said in disbelief, pointing at Emma, "can see, feel, and hear things before they happen but you're telling me that you're having a hard time grasping human sacrifices?"

He turned to Isaac, "That's a good point too."

"I don't care," Isaac said, "They killed that kid. They killed the girl that saved me. And I'm going to kill them too."

"Isaac," Emma called after him, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

She ran off, trying to catch up with him before he presumably killed someone. Seth, Scott, and I began to walk back into the school to change out of our uniforms.

"Do you think Emma can stop him?" Scott asked Seth.

Seth looked at me for a second. Then looked back towards Scott. "They have connection. It's hard to explain."

"What kind of connection?" Scott asked, looking at me to make sure I was okay.

"It's not my place to say," Seth said, "If you are really that interested, ask Emma. I doubt she would lie to you guys."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"It means, I don't know if you've noticed but Emma is different. A lot happened this summer that you two aren't aware of. So, I suggest you ask her about it. Lord knows the girl needs friends and for some reason, she chose you two. Talk to her. The new Emma doesn't lie as much," Seth said. He closed his locker and walked away.

 **Emma's POV**

"Isaac, please," I begged for the thousandth time. I had changed back into my clothes for the school day. My outfit today consisted of black, ripped cutoffs, a black tank with a skull on it, and my maroon leather jacket. I had opted for black high tops instead of boots today. Thank god, I was at least capable of keeping up with Isaac with converse on.

"Emma," he snapped, turning towards me, "You're not going to get me to change my mind."

He walked into the chemistry classroom. I took a seat at the lab table that I shared with Scott.

"Anything?" he asked.

I shook my head, "He's stubborn that one."

"Isaac," Scott said softly, "Please don't do anything you might regret, okay? They're here for a reason. Just let me figure it out before you do anything, okay?" Isaac didn't answer. "Isaac?"

"Scott," I said nudging the boy next to me, "His heart rate."

Scott listened for a second. "He isn't going to listen to me, is he?"

I shook my head. Isaac made up his mind easily. But once he had made a decision, you could never change his mind.

"Mr. Harris," Isaac said from in front of Scott and I, "Can I go to the bathroom please?"

Harris gestured that Isaac could go. Isaac bolted out of his seat and out the door, into the hallway.

"I have to go to the bathroom too," Scott and I said at the same time.

Harris looked between the two of us, "One at a time."

"But I'm a girl," I said, "I'm technically going to a different bathroom?"

"But I really have to go," Scott argued, "Like medical emergency have to go."

"Miss Baker, that's a fascinating argument but the answer is still one at a time. Mr. McCall, if your bladder suddenly exploded and urine began to pour out of every orifice of your body, I would still respond, 'one at a time'," Harris said darkly, "Is that enough hyperbole for you or would you like me to come up with something more vivid?"

I gulped and quickly sat back down in my seat.

"Nope, that's pretty good," Scott said defeated, sitting back down.

"Do you smell that?" I whispered to Scott.

"What?" he said, taking a deep breath, "I only smell chemicals."

"No," I said, "I smell blood."

We heard a loud noise in the hallway. Harris walked to the door, storming out into the hallway. The entire class followed him out. Isaac was standing in the hallway with a half beaten Ethan on the ground in front of him. I looked at Scott with raised eyebrows and mouthed 'blood'. He just shook his head.

"What the hell is this?" Harris yelled, "What's going on?"

Danny knelt next to Ethan, "Are you alright?"

"He just came after me," Ethan lied.

"Mr. Lahey, what the hell did you do?" Harris asked Isaac.

Scott and I glared at Ethan. This had to be a set up. I had trained with Isaac and while he is pretty great with his claws and gymnastics, he isn't that strong. He couldn't have punched Ethan that many times without Ethan getting one punch in.

The rest of chemistry went by in a blur. I was trying to think of ways to either get rid of the twins or stop Isaac from murdering someone. Scott and I followed Isaac out of the room. He was even tenser than before. His jaw was clenched and he kept sending Scott glares from the side of his eye.

"Don't let them get to you," I said, touching his arm, "It's just a lunch detention."

"Yeah," Scott agreed, "Don't give in. They're just trying to get to you."

"It's not just me," Isaac said, nodding his head towards the other side of the hallway.

Scott and I looked over to see Aiden flirting with Lydia and asking her on a date. This is what she wanted. A distraction. Little did she know that this distraction came with fangs and claws.

"What?" Scott said through gritted teeth.

"Now they're getting to you," Isaac said with a smirk, "And Seth."

I looked down the hallway and saw Seth glaring at Aiden's back. He looked seriously pissed. Aiden smirked at him when he turned around. I thought Seth was going to beat his ass right there but instead, he clenched his jaw and his hands were in fists at his sides. He was trying not to shift.

"Shit," I mumbled, under my breath.

This wasn't good.

 **Stiles' POV**

I was waiting outside of the principal's office, spying through the window. Not my stealthiest move but it worked for the time being. My dad and a deputy were interviewing that Kyle kid's girlfriend. She was still sobbing about the fact that her boyfriend was murdered. However, I couldn't actually hear what was being said through the window. Where was one of the million werewolves that go to this school when you need them?

Ashley and the deputy moved to leave the office and I quickly ducked down behind the wall so they wouldn't see me. They came out into the hallway and I knew that this was my chance. The deputy told her to wait. I decided it was now or never.

"Um, hi, Ashley?" I whispered, crossing over to her. I moved her away from the office to speak to her privately, "Can I talk to you for just a sec? I just need to ask you something really quick. And it's going to sound really unbelievably insensitive so I uh, apologize in advance. But, um, was Kyle a virgin?"

She glared at me, "What?"

"Your boyfriend. Was he a virgin or did you guys, ya know?" I elaborated.

She slapped me across the face. My cheek stung as her hand made contact with it. I deserved that I guess. I looked at her with apologetic eyes. I knew this was a bad idea. The deputy came to her side and began to usher her away from me, shooting me a death glare.

Ashley stopped and turned to face me, "No, he wasn't a virgin."

I sighed. Shit. If he wasn't a virgin then what was the pattern here? Was there no pattern?

My dad came out of the office and turned to look at me. He was angry, annoyed, and confused. There was honestly nothing I could do to correct that I guess.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" he snapped at me, "I've got four murders, Stiles. See those men in there? That's the FBI. They're putting together a task force to help because it appears like we have full blown serial killer on our hands. Do you get that?"

"Yes," I said softly, "Yes, dad. I get that."

"Then what are you doing?" he asked, still confused.

"I'm trying to find a pattern," I explained.

His face softened, "That's not your job, Stiles. Go back to class, okay?"

I nodded. He turned and followed his deputy out of the school. I wish he would let me help. I need to help. I can't just sit here and do nothing. Especially when this is more likely than not a supernatural problem.

"Hey," I heard a voice next to me. I turned and saw Emma softly smiling at me, "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said moving towards my next class, "That kid wasn't a virgin."

"So, maybe it's a different pattern then. Maybe they all have something else in common," she said hopeful.

I shook my head, "Or maybe we're both completely wrong and a serial killer is just targeting high school students."

"No," she said sternly, "I know they are sacrifices. I can feel it in my gut. And trust me when I say that my gut is never wrong."

"How do you still believe that though?" I asked, not believing her.

"Just because one guy doesn't fit the pattern doesn't mean that the pattern is wrong. We just need to adapt and find another connection that all four victims have," she said.

We came across Kyle's locker. We both moved closer to study it. Maybe there were clues in the notes people left him or the pictures people had posted. There had to be something we could find.

Boyd came up to put a card on the locker. Emma nudged me, pointing at Boyd.

"Hey, Boyd," I said, "I didn't know you were back at school."

"Yeah, I would have told you but we aren't actually friends," he said with a smirk. Emma snorted.

"Oh yeah," I said softly, "So, hey, did you know Kyle?"

"Yeah," he said softly, "We were in junior ROTC together."

"So you two were friends?" I asked.

"I only had one friend," he said softly, "And she's dead too."

Boyd smiled softly at Emma. Then turned, and walked away.

"That went well," Emma said with a smirk.

I shook my head at her, "Come on. Let's get to class."

We walked down the hallway. We got right to the door of our math class when Emma stopped suddenly. She wrapped her arms around herself and shut her eyes tight.

"Are you okay?" I asked, going back to where she was.

She shook her head, "I need to go find Isaac."

She turned around, and ran down the hallway. I was left to go to class by myself. Seems like I was left to do a lot of things by myself these days.

 **Emma's POV**

I came racing around the corner just as Scott threw Isaac off of Allison and into the hallway. His body skidded across the floor. I bent down so I was hovering over him.

"Isaac," I said softly, "Calm down. You have to calm down."

"Isaac!" Scott screamed, coming up next to me.

Isaac slowly shifted back to his human self. I followed him to the other side of the hallway. I sat next to him, and pulled his body against mine. I held his head against my chest, slowly combing my fingers through his hair. He was panting like crazy.

"I'm okay, I'm fine," Allison said as Scott assessed the scratches on her arm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't – I didn't mean to do that," Isaac stuttered. I tightened my grip on him.

"It's not his fault," Allison said to Scott.

"I know," Scott said ominously, "I guess now we know that they want to do more than get you angry."

"They want to get someone hurt," I added.

"So, are we going to do something?" Isaac asked Scott and me.

"Yeah," Scott said like a man on a mission, "We're going to get them angry. Really angry."

"I like the sound of that," I said, finally letting go of Isaac.

We both stood up from our position at the wall. I crossed over to Allison to make sure that she was okay. She looked shaken up but beyond that, she seemed okay. Isaac and Scott discussed the plan.

"Are you okay?" I whispered to her.

She nodded, "He didn't do it on purpose."

"I know," I said softly.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked, looking at Isaac.

I shrugged, "Probably."

Scott came over to us and told us the plan. We were going to hotwire one of the twin's motorcycles and Isaac was going to drive it through the school. Scott and I were supposed to go to class and basically antagonize them into getting angry about the bike. Apparently we were going to take parts off of the bike in order to do this. We would have to wait until later in the day when they were in our class to do this, but for now, we had to act like nothing had happened.

 **Stiles' POV**

"Did you know that there is a temple in Calcutta where they sacrifice a baby every day, Lydia? Do you wanna know what today is? It's dead baby day! Oh wait, no. That's every day cause every day is dead baby day! Yay!" I said as I quickly followed the strawberry blonde in front of me.

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because Emma and Scott are dealing with the alpha twins," I explained softly. She stopped and looked at me with a confused glare. "You don't know about the twins?"

"What twins?" she asked softly.

"Ethan and Aiden," I explained.

"Oh yeah," she lied, turning to continue walking to class, "I know about them."

"Okay, okay, so, look," I said catching up to her, "Here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that maybe the murders come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes. So maybe first it's three virgins and then, I don't know, maybe it's three people who own little dogs."

"I own a little dog," she said, stopping again. I gave her a look, "I'm not getting rid of my dog."

"Can you just think about getting rid of your dog?" I asked, continuing to follow her.

"No," she said, "And by the way, you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point so stop trying."

"Okay, wow, so I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die?" I asked, "I'm just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait for them to wither up and die right in front of me?"

"Wither?" she questioned.

"You know what I mean, die. You know, just in a hideously awful strangulating, head bashing, and throat cutting kind of way," I said frantically, flailing my arms.

"Maybe it's not your job," she said softly, "You said it yourself, they were strangled with a garrote. That's a human thing to do. So, maybe just leave the figuring out part to someone human."

"You mean, someone like my dad?" I asked softly.

She sighed, "No, I mean your dad." She started to walk the rest of the way to class. The bell rang, signaling that I needed to be on the other side of the building for my class. "The sheriff," she yelled over the racket in the hallway.

I glared at her back, maybe she was right. Maybe the police could handle this one. Or maybe there is something we are missing. Something that might tie this whole thing together.

 **Emma's POV**

Scott and I walked into English, the last class of the day. I sat behind him as he sat next to Ethan. Aiden was on Ethan's other side. This was when we would put the plan into action. Scott pulled a part of the motorcycle out of his backpack. It was a large spiraly looking thing that looked like a gear.

"That looks kind of important," I said, loud enough for the alphas to hear me.

Scott pulled out another piece, setting it on his desk next to the other ones, "I have no idea what this does."

We heard a motorcycle engine in the hallway. Isaac started revving the engine so it would be louder. The twins' heads snapped towards the door. Scott and I gave each other a knowing smile. Aiden jumped up and ran out of the room. Ethan yelled after him but he was long gone by that point. Miss Blake stared after him. Eventually, Isaac got near the classrooms and you could hear the engine without supernatural hearing. The whole class left the classroom and filled the hallway to see what would happen.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Miss Blake said as she entered the hallway and crossed to Aiden, "You realize this is going to result in a suspension?"

Allison, Isaac, Scott, and I all smiled at each other. Isaac and I high-fived. For once, we did something and the results were instantaneous. Ethan shot us a glare.

Class ended quickly after that. I went to my locker to put away the books that I wouldn't need for the night. I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and saw Seth looking at me with a concerned look.

"What?" I snapped, closing my locker.

He crossed his arms, "I thought you decided last night that the kiss with Stiles was nothing?"

"I did," I said, still confused.

"Then why were you cuddled against him during practice this morning?" he asked.

I shook my head, "It's not like I did it on purpose. It's just out of instinct. It didn't mean anything."

"E, I know you still love the kid but you can't keep running back to him. It's not healthy," Seth said softly.

"We are meant to be together. You know that. I'm not running back to him. It's just that things that used to be normal when we were together still feel natural to me. I'm not going to fight that," I argued.

He sighed, "I know you are meant to be together. I just think that you guys still need some time apart from each other."

Before I could respond, a group of boys who I had never seen before came up to me.

"Hey, Emma," the guy leading the group said, "Looking good."

I quirked my eyebrow, "Can I help you?"

The guy shrugged, "We were just wondering when you were going to let the rest of the lacrosse team get a piece of that ass."

The guys behind him all laughed. I looked at Seth in horror. I was blinded with rage.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" I snapped, stepping closer to the group of boys.

The guy threw his hands up in surrender, "It's only fair that you share with us what you gave Stilinski, Lahey, oh and this asshole right here." The guy pointed at Seth.

I glared at them but before I could say anything, Seth grabbed my wrist, closed my locker, and pulled me away. He dragged me down the hallway and out the doors to the parking lot. When we got to the car, I glared up at him.

"Would you please explain to me what the fuck just happened?" I snapped.

"It's just locker room talk, don't worry about it," he said, getting into the car.

"Just locker room talk?" I asked, getting in as well.

He shrugged, "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is to me," I said forcefully, "I just basically got called as slut in the school hallway by a bunch of lacrosse players who I have literally never met before. So please tell me why that is happening and if you don't, I'll just ask Isaac who you know won't lie to me."

He sighed, "Fine, but don't shoot the messenger."

 **Stiles' POV**

I walked into the animal clinic. I figured since my friends weren't going to help me with this, Dr. Deaton would be the next best thing.

"You're out of school early," Dr. Deaton said.

"Yeah, I have a free period actually," I explained, "I was, um, just headed home to see my dad. He's, uh, you know? I guess you've probably heard? People are getting murdered again. And it's his job to figure it out."

"I gathered as much from the 'sheriff' title," Deaton said with a small smile.

"Yeah, um, it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn't have all the information. And we all know he's missing pretty much half the story here, right?" I said with a smirk, "So, then I started thinking and I remembered someone who does have a lot of information. Someone who always seems to know more than anyone else around here. You."

Deaton nodded and turned leading me back to the operation rooms. I took his silence as his agreement that he knew more than he was letting on.

"All these symbols and things; the triskeles, the bank logo, the mountain ash; all of it's from the Celtic druids. And anyone who has ever looked up 'human sacrifice' before knows that the druids had a pretty big hard on when it came to giving one up to the gods. Did you ever hear about the Lindo Man? Two-thousand year old body found in England? He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut; three-fold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite druid plant that was," I rambled.

Deaton picked up a jar. He pulled out a green plant and held it in front of me, "Mistletoe."

I stared at the plant and sighed, "I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I?" He didn't answer. "So, why aren't you telling us?"

Deaton looked away from me. He sighed, looking up at me, "Maybe because when you've spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away, denying it, lying about it; it becomes a pretty powerful habit."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "Okay, so this guy, is he a druid?"

"No," he said confidently, "Someone copying centuries old practices of a people who should have known better. Do you know what the word 'druid' means in Gaelic?"

"No," I mumbled.

"Wise oak. The Celtic druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars. They weren't serial killers," he explained.

"Yeah, well this one is," I sighed.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out with a sigh. It was Lydia.

"Hey, look I can't talk right now," I said.

"The music teacher at school is gone. I think this has something to do with your theory," she said with a shaky voice.

"Okay, are you sure he's missing?" I asked.

"Not just missing," she said taking a deep breath, "Taken."

 **Emma's POV**

"You're taking this remarkably well," Seth said softly.

I ran my hand through my hair, "Trust me, I'm still processing and hoping that this is all just a misunderstanding."

"E," Seth said with a chuckle, "He basically advertised your sex life and you think it's a misunderstanding?"

I glared at him, "I don't know what to think but from what you've told me, you didn't help the situation by being a dick. So clearly, I have to hear his side of the story too."

"I wasn't being a dick," he argued.

"You called him a virgin and there is something so special about male masculinity that they cannot be seen as virgins in front of their friends so yes, you were being a dick to him. You basically egged him on," I said with a sigh.

Seth's phone ringing brought both of us out of the conversation. We were still sitting in the parking lot of school. He had thought it was best that we not be in a moving vehicle when he told me. Apparently he thought I was going to snap or something. Honestly, I kind of get why Stiles said what he did. However, I don't really want my sex life to be the topic of the locker room so we are going to have a talk about that.

"Lydia," Seth said frantically, "What's wrong?"

I turned to look at him. I strained my ear to hear Lydia's side of the conversation.

"The music teacher is missing. I think he was taken," Lydia's voice said through tears.

"Emma and I will be there in a minute, tops, okay?" he said soothingly.

"Yeah, alright," Lydia choked out.

Seth hung up the phone, "Let's go."

We got out of the car and went back into the school. We went to the music room where Lydia was. She was staring at the piano in horror. She didn't even hear us run in.

"Lyds," I said, getting her attention.

She pointed at the piano, "The phone, it has a, uh, recording on it."

I gave Seth a pointed look, telling him to go comfort the girl he supposedly likes. He rolled his eyes at me but moved over to Lydia. He wrapped his arms around her and she nuzzled into his chest. I crossed over to the piano. I picked up the phone. I brought it to my ear and pressed play. There was a really pretty piano piece, then a banging of keys, and then weird chanting.

"What the hell is that?" I heard Stiles' voice say. I looked up and saw him entering the room with Dr. Deaton.

"Can I see that?" Deaton asked, reaching for the phone. I handed it over. He played the same part of the recording that I had just played. "Can we get a copy of this?"

I nodded and took the cellphone back. I sent the recording to myself, Stiles, and Scott thinking that eventually one of us would find a use for it.

"Hey, Doc," Stiles said as he went through the teacher's desk, "Any help would be, ya know, helpful?"

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose," Deaton explained.

"Wait, grouping of three?" I asked.

"The sacrifices are happening in threes," Lydia said softly from behind me.

Deaton nodded, "Yes. They would have some type of power. Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors…"

"Wait, wait, wait," Stiles said from the teacher's desk, "Warrior? Could that also be like a soldier?"

"Absolutely," Deaton said.

Stiles held up a picture of the music teacher in a uniform. He was a soldier of some kind.

"Kyle was in ROTC with Boyd," I said softly. He nodded.

"That's gotta be it. That's the pattern," Deaton said, "Where's Boyd?"

"He's probably home by now," Stiles said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, "I'm gonna try to get him on the phone."

Lydia and Seth had rejoined our group at the piano. Lydia looked thoughtful, like she had thought of something but wasn't sure how to say it.

"Lydia," I said softly, "Is something wrong?"

Her eyes widened, "No, I mean, I just thought of someone else with a military connection."

"Who?" Stiles asked, hanging up on Boyd.

"Harris," Lydia and I said at the same time.

We all raced to Harris' room, knowing that he was the next to be taken. When we got there, the room was empty but it didn't feel intentional.

"This is just one of many possibilities," Deaton pointed out, "He could have just left for the day."

"Yeah, well, not without this," Stiles said, holding up Harris' bag.

Lydia and I began to look at the papers on his desk. They were all graded differently.

"Wait," I said, holding up a test, "This test was graded 'R'."

Deaton and Stiles looked at me, confused. Seth moved over to Lydia, helping her look through the papers.

"This one's an 'H'," Lydia said, holding up another test.

Deaton took the tests from us and moved behind Harris' desk. He began to organize the papers. They looked like the spelled a word but it wasn't a word that I knew.

"Stiles," Deaton said ominously, "You remember I told you 'druid' is the Gaelic word for 'wise oak'?"

"Yeah," Stiles said giving Lydia and me a confused glance.

"If a druid went down the wrong path, the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a dark oak. There's a Gaelic word for that as well, 'darach'," Deaton explained.

A darach? What the hell is that?

 **Stiles' POV**

"Hey," I heard Emma say from behind me as I walked to my Jeep.

"Hey yourself," I said, turning around.

"Can we talk?" she asked, looking at her feet.

"Uh, yeah," I swallowed, "Do you want a ride?"

She nodded, "Yeah, that would be great."

I led her to the Jeep. We both got in. We sat in the cab quietly. I didn't start the Jeep in fear that if I did, she would tell me something horrible. But eventually, I had to start the car so we could go home. I pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards her house.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, nervously.

"Um, I heard about what happened in the locker room," she said softly.

I gulped, "Oh, that. How'd you find out?"

"Some guys hit on me and I forced Seth to tell me why they said what they did," she said with a shrug.

"What did they say?" I asked, feeling a tiny bit of anger boiling in my stomach.

"It doesn't matter," she said softly, "I just wanted to know why you said what you did."

I shook my head, "Seth provoked me. He was basically calling me a virgin in front of the entire lacrosse team."

"Right but you didn't have to bring me into it," she said still speaking in a soft tone.

"Well, I mean, I guess I didn't," I agreed.

"You could have said in so many more ways that you aren't a virgin. You didn't have to make it seem like dating me means that you'll get laid," she argued, her voice cracking.

I flinched, she was right. I pulled into her driveway. I put the Jeep in park and finally turned to look at her. It had started raining as I drove home so it was pouring at this point.

"I didn't mean it like that," I said.

"Then how did you mean it?" she asked, still not looking at me.

"It just came out like that. You're right I could have said it in so many different ways but I felt like I had to prove it to the guys that I wasn't lying," I said, basically pulling at straws for a defense here.

"And you couldn't have used one of the other girls from this summer as your proof?" she asked sarcastically.

My jaw dropped, "How do you know about that?"

She waved me off, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you could have used literally anyone else as your defense to not being a virgin but you had to use me and now my sex life is once again the talk of the school and the entire lacrosse team thinks I'm a slut."

"I mean, no offense, but you did have sex with three lacrosse players," I said softly.

She snapped her head towards me, finally looking at me. Her blue eyes were wet with tears. Fuck, I did that.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" she snapped, "You're going to spend your entire summer sleeping with the female population of Beacon Hills and then call me out for having sex with three guys in my entire life? One of whom was you, by the way. Another who was my boyfriend since childhood basically. So, yeah I've had sex with three guys. All of whom are on the lacrosse team. But that doesn't mean that the lacrosse team or the rest of Beacon Hills High should be allowed to talk about my sex life."

"You're right and I'm sorry," I said frantically, "I'm so sorry. For saying what I said in the locker room, for saying what I just said now. You're completely right. I'm an asshole and I shouldn't be judging you or talking about you."

She shook her head, "I just thought that you would have some explanation behind this that didn't make me feel like shit."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When Seth told me about this, I hoped you would have an excuse that would make it easy to forget and move on," she said softly.

"But I'm an asshole and you're seriously questioning why you dated me and why you continue to be my friend?" I asked sarcastically.

She laughed, "No, I know why I dated you. And I know why I continue to be your friend."

"Are you mad at me?" I asked softly.

"No, I was never mad," she explained, "Just hurt."

"I'm sorry I keep hurting you," I said reaching out, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, remember when you tried everything in your power to not hurt me?" she said with a smirk.

"Those were the good old days," I said with a smile.

She hadn't made any move to leave the car to go inside. I hoped she wasn't going to run out. We were finally talking. And not about the supernatural, just talking in general. When was the last time we were able to just talk?

"Can I ask you something?" I asked, hopeful. She nodded. "Seth told Scott and me that you and Isaac have a connection and that shit went down this summer. What do both of those things mean?"

She sighed, "Apparently, as a psychic, I can have familial connections, romantic connections, and friend connections. So, like, with my mom or my grandparents or Seth, my connections with them are stronger than with the average person. Isaac was the first friend connection that I was able to make so it's the strongest. My connection with Scott is the second strongest friend connection I have. It's kind of complicated but it just means that I can't not act on a premonition when it comes to those connections."

I nodded, taking in all the information she was telling me. Seth was right, she didn't lie. At least not that I could tell. But she only answered one of the questions. But, I would take what I could get.

"Who's your romantic connection with?" I asked softly.

She blushed, "It's not important."

"No, tell me," I said, now genuinely curious.

She sighed, "You, Stiles. You're my romantic connection."

 **Emma's POV**

I fell back on my bed. I had just changed out of my wet clothes. Running from the Jeep to the house in the pouring rain hadn't seemed like that bad of an idea at the time but now I was severely regretting it. After everything that had happened today, I wanted to cuddle up and watch Netflix but the universe had other plans.

"Sweetie," my mom called up the stairs, "Time for family dinner."

I stood up, leaving my room to head downstairs. This was a new thing. This way, my mom could keep an eye on Seth and I without forcing us to tell her what we were doing. At least one night a week, we had to have family dinner. Sometimes it was just the three of us, other times my grandparents would join us. Tonight though, it was supposed to be the three of us so we could talk about the alpha pack, which we weren't allowed to talk about with my grandparents.

The doorbell rang as I came off the bottom step. I looked towards the kitchen were Seth and my mom were standing by the table, looking at the door quizzically. I turned around and opened the door. There, in the pouring rain, was Isaac Lahey.

"Hey," he said softly, looking behind me to Seth and my mom, "Is my old room still available?"

"Oh, Isaac," my mom said, pushing past me to usher the boy into the house, "Of course your room is still available. You go upstairs and get changed. We were just sitting down for dinner. You like lasagna right?" She didn't even wait for him to respond, "Emma, please go help Isaac find dry clothes and collect his wet ones, okay?" I nodded, "Seth, help me set the table."

I looked at Isaac expectantly. He led the way to his old room, also known as the guest room. We walked into the room and it felt as if nothing had changed at all. He had moved out when Seth and I left for England, opting to live with Derek at the loft instead of here with my mom. I had understood it at the time, but I was kind of hurt that he didn't move back in when Seth and I got back.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, sitting on his bed.

He began to strip off his wet clothes, "There's nothing to talk about."

I sighed, "You know you can't lie to me."

"I'm not lying," he said, pulling dry clothes out of his drawers. He must have left stuff here at the beginning of the summer. "Derek kicked me out."

"Why?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Who knows why Derek does anything?"

I stood up and crossed over to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. I pressed my face against his back.

"Whatever he said, you know he didn't mean it, right?" I said into his back.

"He reminded me of my dad," he said softly, his voice cracking.

I held him tighter. He didn't talk about his dad. And today alone, he had already had an episode of PTSD at school. If Derek had done something even close to what his dad used to do, Isaac wasn't going to be okay. He didn't deserve this.

I slowly let go of him, moving back to his bed. He finished getting changed. He turned to look at me with a small smile on his face.

"Let's go get some food," he said softly, "I've missed your mom's cooking."

I snorted, "You're the only one."

We walked down the stairs. Seth and my mom were sitting at the table, waiting for us to join them. I ran to the laundry room and threw Isaac's wet clothes in the washer. I came back to the table and they were already chatting about their days.

"I've missed this, kids," my mom said fondly.

"You see Seth and I literally every day," I pointed out, "I think you just missed Isaac."

My mom snorted, "Well, obviously, he has the best manners of the three of you."

We all laughed. This was what kept me grounded. With all of the shit with the hunters and the alphas this summer, all that kept me going was knowing that these moments of normalcy were going to happen. I needed them to keep pushing me forward. I needed them then, and I need them now.

After all the shit that happened today; the dead body, Isaac's freak out, the twins, more sacrifices, and my talk with Stiles; I would take all the 'normal' I could get.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"Yo, Scottie," I said, snapping my hand in front of his face, "You still with me?"

He sat up, "Yeah, sorry, what's the word?"

"Anachronism," Emma said from the seat in front of us.

"Something that exists out of its normal time," Scott answered.

"Nice," I said, "Okay, next word, Em, incongruous."

"Um," she said looking at the top of the seat, "Can you use it in a sentence?"

"Yes, yes I can," I said, "It's completely incongruous that we are sitting on a bus right now on our way to some stupid cross-country meet after what just happened. Incongruous."

"Out of place, ridiculous, absurd," she said biting her lip.

"Perfect," I said with a smirk, "Okay, next word, um, Darach. Darach. It's a noun."

Scott and Emma stared back at me with blank expressions. Seth moved so he could look over the seat with Emma.

"Really?" he snapped.

"We have to talk about it sometime, okay?" I argued, "And we're going to be stuck on this thing for like five hours so why not?"

None of them answered. Emma chewed her lip and sunk down in the seat so I could only see the top of her head. Seth played with the fraying leather of the bus seat. Scott closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window.

I sighed, "Okay, next word, intransigent."

"Stubborn," Emma said, popping her head up and quirking an eyebrow at me.

"Obstinate," Scott said.

We hit a bump and both he and Emma grabbed their sides in pain. They both groaned at the same time causing Seth and I to look at them with concern.

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

"We shouldn't have come," Seth pointed out, "I knew it, we shouldn't have come."

"We had to," Scott argued, still clutching his side, "There's safety in numbers."

"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers," Emma pointed out, also holding her side.

"She's right, it's called a massacre," I agreed with her, "Bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery. Wow," I said as I read off my iPad.

"Ow," Emma and Scott hissed.

"Alright," I said, "I'm telling Coach to pull over."

"No," Scott argued, "I'm alright."

"Well you don't look alright," I argued.

"You don't feel alright either," Emma said raising her eyebrows.

"Just let us see it," I said moving to pull up his shirt.

He hit my hand away, "No, I'm fine."

"Scott," Emma said sternly, "Let us see it."

He nodded and lifted up his shirt. Two deep and red gashes in his side became visible to us. They looked intense. He wasn't healing. The battle had been over for like twelve hours but he still wasn't healing. And Emma could feel it.

"That explains a lot," she said to herself.

"Dude," I said to Scott.

"It's fine," he said putting his shirt down, "It's just cause they're from an alpha. It'll take longer to heal."

Seth shook his head, "Then how come Boyd, Isaac, and I are fine?"

We all looked toward the other two boys in question who seemed to be on edge. But they were fine. They seemed to be completely fine.

"I can't believe he's dead," Scott said, leaning his head against the window, "I can't believe Derek is dead."

"He's not dead," Emma said softly, still looking over the seat in front of Scott and me.

"We all saw what happened," Seth pointed out, "He couldn't have survived that."

She shook her head and bit her lip, "I can still feel him. That has to mean something."

"You can feel him?" I questioned.

"Only bits and pieces," she explained, "Scott is overpowering everything right now."

Seth and I exchanged a look. She had been acting weird since last night. Quieter than usual. Scott not healing was also taking a toll on her. She was getting paler by the minute while Scott continued to whimper in pain. The poor girl looked like she was the one who had slash marks on her torso.

"You can't blame yourself," Scott said softly, not looking at any of us.

"Neither can you," Emma said barely above a whisper.

 **Emma's POV**

"McCall, Baker, not you guys two! You're my best long distance runners," Coach yelled across the bus.

I felt Scott's body tense. His wound was still stinging. It hurt to even move. I didn't want to think about getting off of this bus and having to run.

"I'm fine, Coach," Scott and I said at the same time. I turned around to look at him with worried eyes.

"Okay, neither of you are fine," Stiles argued. He moved Scott's jacket to get a better look at the cuts. "You're bleeding again. And don't just tell me this is taking longer to heal. Cause I'm pretty sure still bleeding means not healing. Like at all."

"Guys," Seth said under his breath. We looked up at him. He nodded his head toward Ethan. "He's listening."

"Is he going to do something?" I asked, my anxiety at an all time high.

"Not with this many people," Scott said.

"Okay," Stiles sighed, "But what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?"

I looked over to where Isaac and Boyd were sitting. Sure enough, both boys were very on edge. I could feel the tension rolling off of them in waves from all the way in the back of the bus. This couldn't end well. They were loose cannons and without Derek, their alpha, here to control them; we were fucked.

"No, they won't," Scott stated, "Not here."

"Okay," I started, "But what if they do? Are you going to stop them?"

Scott nodded, "If I have to."

My phone buzzed in my hand. Seth looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I rolled my eyes and looked at who had texted me.

 **From: Lyds**

 **Ally is running on fumes. At some point we are going to have to get gas. Keep you updated on when if you keep us updated on the bus's location.**

I smirked to myself. Of course they were following us. I knew Allison wasn't going to be able to let Scott out of her sight after last night. Plus, if she could convince Lydia to come with her, then Lydia couldn't be alone with Aiden. My friends were too predictable sometimes.

 **From: Emma**

 **I think the point of stalking is that you aren't supposed to make your position known. But yeah I'll keep you updated.**

The bus slammed on its brakes. We were stuck in a traffic jam. In the desert. For who knows how long. This was officially the worst bus ride on the planet.

"Boyd?" I heard Isaac's voice beg. I looked at Seth and Scott. They had heard it too. They both moved up in their seats.

"Scott, Seth, where are you guys going?" Stiles asked, startled.

"Boyd," Scott started, "He's going to do something."

"Wait, how do you know?" Stiles asked, still oblivious.

"Look at his hands," I pointed out.

We all looked toward Boyd where his clawed hand gripped the seat in front of him. I started to feel panic for Isaac who was sitting next to the ticking time bomb that is Boyd. Scott pushed past Stiles to get out of his seat. I moved so Seth could follow him as back up. They both walked down the aisle of the bus until they reached Boyd and Isaac's seats. Scott looked even worse walking than he did sitting. I looked at Stiles with panic. He mirrored my look and shrugged his shoulders. Us getting involved would have complicated things more than it already was. But I couldn't take sitting here, unable to do anything.

Scott and Seth came back to the seats. Stiles and I moved so they could go back to their original spots.

"Crisis averted?" Stiles asked, frantically chewing on the drawstring of his hoodie.

"Yeah," Seth and Scott both replied.

"Good, cause we have another problem," Stiles said. I raised my eyebrow at him in confusion. What had he seen that I hadn't? "See Ethan? He keeps checking his phone every five minutes. It's like he's waiting for something. Like a message or a sign. Something evil though. I have a very perceptive eye for evil, you all know that."

"I don't like him sitting with Danny," I said, glaring at the back of the alpha's head.

"Yeah, neither do I," Stiles agreed. "I'm gonna see what he's waiting for."

"What are you going to do?" Seth questioned.

"I'm going to ask him," Stiles said. I whipped my head around to look at him. He was texting frantically on his phone.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.

Danny's phone dinged. He pulled out of his pocket to look at the message. He looked back at Stiles with an annoyed glare. Stiles waved his phone at Danny and smiled, pointing to Ethan. Danny shook his head and turned back around. Stiles pulled his phone back out and continued to text Danny. Danny texted him back once and then turned to glare at Stiles again. Stiles began to send text after text to Danny until Danny was so annoyed he had to ask Ethan.

Ethan turned around. Stiles and Scott ducked in their seats, not subtly at all. I raised my hand in a wave, smirking at the alpha. He glared back, then turned back around.

"That was so subtle you guys, I bet he didn't even see you guys," I said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Baker," Stiles grumbled.

Stiles phone dinged. We all turned around to see what Danny had said.

"Someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night," Stiles read.

"Ennis?" Seth questioned.

"So does that mean?" I trailed off.

"He's not dead," Scott supplied.

"Not yet," Stiles said, putting his phone away.

"If Ennis is alive, Derek might be alive, right?" Seth asked, hopeful.

"Derek is alive," I argued, "I told you guys, I can still feel him somewhere. He's alive, barely, but he is. I know."

"Ow," Scott groaned for the third consecutive time. I felt his pain and grabbed my side.

"Okay, that's it. I'm asking Coach to stop," Stiles said raising his hand.

"Stilinski, put your hand down!" Coach yelled.

"Coach, there's a food stop a couple miles ahead. Maybe if we stop traffic -," Stiles said, talking with his hands.

"No. We are not stopping," Coach argued.

"But if we stop -," Stiles argued.

"Stilinski!" Coach yelled, blowing his whistle, "Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"

"I hate him," Stiles said under his breath, running a hand over his face.

"Did you call Deaton?" Seth asked.

"I got his voicemail," Scott groaned.

"That's it, I'm calling Lydia," Seth said, reaching for his phone.

"How is she going to help? She's back in Beacon Hills," Scott argued.

"She's not. She and Allison have been following us for hours," I said with a shrug.

"Pathetic," Seth said with a smirk.

He lifted his phone to his ear. I listened in on his conversation with Lydia.

"Hey, Seth," I heard Lydia's voice say, "We're just about to walk into a movie. Ya know, the popcorn, and -."

"I know you guys are behind us. Put me on speaker," Seth said with a smirk.

"Right," Lydia agreed.

Stiles took Seth's phone out of his hand, putting it up to his own ear.

"Look, Scott's still hurt," he said frantically.

"What do you mean still? He isn't healing?" Allison's voice questioned.

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood is turning like a black color," Stiles explained.

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Lydia's voice asked.

Stiles glared at the phone, putting it back up to his ear, "What's wrong with him? Do I have a PhD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?"

"We need to get him off the bus," Allison's voice said.

"And take him where? The hospital?" Lydia argued.

"If he's dying, yeah," Allison pointed out, "There's a rest stop about a mile up. Tell Coach to pull over."

"Yeah, I've been trying," Stiles mumbled.

"Well, reason with him," Allison argued.

"Reason with him?" Stiles sputtered, "Have you met this guy?"

"Just try something!" Allison said sternly.

Stiles handed Seth his phone back. He sighed, got out of his seat, and walked up the aisle to talk to Coach.

"You think he can actually convince him?" Seth asked me.

I shook my head, "Absolutely not. But he'll figure it out. He always does."

 **Stiles' POV**

Everyone ran off the bus in disgust after I made Jared puke. I felt bad for the kid but desperate times called for desperate measures. Seth and I helped carry Scott off of the bus, Emma trailing behind us, getting paler and looking more like she was the one dying. Allison and Lydia met us right outside the bus. They helped us carry Scott into the bathroom. We lowered him against the wall. Allison lifted his shirt revealing the gashes we had seen earlier. Except this time, they were oozing black blood and looked worse than before.

"Oh god," Allison said, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry," Scott croaked out, "Technically, she knew."

Emma scoffed, "I tried to tell you to tell them. I can't always be the messenger here."

"Okay," Allison said standing up, "Just give us a second, okay Scott?" the boy nodded. "This shouldn't be happening. He's gone through worse than this."

"Okay," I started, "So, what do we do? Do we call an ambulance?"

"What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" Allison asked, frantically looking at Emma.

"We have to do something," Emma pointed out.

"It could be psychological," Lydia supplied.

"What? Like psychosomatic?" I asked.

"Somatoformic," Lydia argued, "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause." I made a face, telling her to keep going. "Yes, it's all in his head."

"Cause of Derek," Emma whispered, "He's not letting himself heal because he thinks Derek is dead."

"Derek is dead," I argued. She glared at me and crossed her arms.

"So, what do we do?" Allison asked.

Lydia reached into her bag and pulled out a sewing kit, "We stich him up." Allison and I exchanged a panicked look. "I'm serious. Maybe all we need to do is make him believe it's healing."

I nodded, "Okay, we can do this."

"He's going to need another shirt, where's his bag?" Allison asked.

"On the bus. I'll get it. I hate needles anyway," I said, moving to the door.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Emma asked Allison, stopping me from leaving.

"Yeah, my father taught me," Allison said.

"Right, but how fast can you do this?" Emma pushed.

"The bus could leave," I agreed.

"Just make sure it doesn't," Allison snapped at us.

"We can help," Emma said grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the bathroom. Lydia ran over to Seth to see if he need help with anything. Emma went with me to the bus to get Scott's bag.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She sighed, "I'll be fine once he is."

"Right, but last night," I started, "I saw what happened. I know that you think you and Scott could have saved Derek but he was already falling."

"We could have saved him. I should have been able to see that it was an ambush. I should have been able to see Derek falling to his death," she said, her voice cracking.

"Hey," I said, wrapping my arms around her, "You can't see the whole future. That's not the point of your power. You just see what you can and go from there."

"Then why does it feel like I'm failing at this whole psychic thing?" she mumbled into my chest.

"You're not failing," I said, leaning back from her to look at her face, "you're still learning."

She shook her head, "No -,"

"Stilinski! Baker! Last chance for the bathroom, we're leaving in 5," Coach yelled at us.

Emma turned to get off the bus. I followed behind her, carrying Scott's bag. We walked back to the bathroom in silence. Getting to the door right as Allison was walking out with a shirtless Scott. Emma reached into Scott's bag and pulled out a shirt. She and Allison helped him put it on.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked.

"I'm gonna go stall Coach," I said moving back towards the bus. She nodded at me and helped Allison keep Scott up.

As I crossed over to the bus where Coach was, Isaac and Boyd came up to me.

"Where's Scott?" Isaac asked.

"He's in the bathroom," I said, trying to push past him.

"Is he still bleeding?" Boyd asked.

I stopped, "Allison is stitching him up. He'll probably be fine."

"Probably? That's reassuring," Isaac said through gritted teeth.

"Hey," I said, putting a hand on Isaac's chest to stop him, "Don't do anything you'll regret."

Isaac pushed me off of him and crossed over to Ethan. He immediately started pummeling the alpha. Emma ran over to me.

"What the hell?" she asked.

I shrugged, "I tried to stop him."

"What's happening?" Scott asked, coming up to us.

"I told him what was happening with you and he just went after him," I explained.

"Boyd?" Scott asked.

I shook my head. He and Emma watched as Isaac continued to beat the crap out of Ethan. Everyone who was on the bus began to crowd around. Coach began to blow his whistle, trying to break up the fight but epically failing. Seth moved into the crowd and tried to pull Isaac off of Ethan which resulted in Isaac swinging back and hitting Seth in the face. Lydia ran to Seth to make sure he was okay. Emma stood, frozen in front of me.

"Isaac!" Scott yelled.

Immediately, Isaac stopped. He looked around at the group that had formed around him. He was breathing heavily and he looked at his hand, his knuckles were bloodied. He looked at Seth and saw him holding his jaw. He crossed over to Seth and started talking to him. Emma crossed over to Seth and Isaac. She hugged Isaac tightly and he ran his hand through her hair. Seeing them hugging, made me feel more jealous than I thought it would. I clenched my hand at my side. I moved over to Allison and Scott, helping her carry him to the bus. They sat in the seat he and I were in earlier so I took Emma and Seth's seat. I pulled my iPad out and started the word app that we had been using earlier.

"Hey," I looked up to see Emma standing next to the seat, "Is this spot taken?"

I motioned for her to sit. She did. "Technically you were sitting here first."

"I was, wasn't I," she said with a soft smile.

"Not going to lie, you look a lot more normal than you did before we stopped," I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Thank you?" she asked with a snort, "I'm taking that as a compliment."

"It was," I said softly.

"So, more words?" she asked, pointing at my iPad.

"Just one," I said.

"Darach?" she asked.

I nodded, "You okay to talk about it?"

"Of course. Who else are you going to bounce your ideas off of?" she asked with a smirk.

"Okay, let's go over this one more time," I started with a smile, "So, it's the sacrifices right? Everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's like a dark druid of some kind."

"Or actually is a dark druid," Emma added.

"Right, Darach," I agreed.

"You know," she said, looking at her hands, "Some ancient cultures sacrifice people in preparation for battle."

My eyes widened, "So we have alpha werewolves against a dark druid."

"Yeah," she mumbled.

"That's not terrifying at all," I said sarcastically.

"Can I ask you something?" she said, looking up at me.

"I feel like at this point, that's a given," I said scratching the back of my neck.

"Why were you there last night?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing what she meant.

"I mean, I only knew you were there because of our connection. And cause you told me. Why were you there if you knew you shouldn't be?" she asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Can we talk about this connection?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"After you answer my question," she said turning to face me.

"Em," I started.

"No, Stiles, tell me the truth," she said softly.

"Fine," I sighed, "I couldn't just sit at home and do nothing. What else was I supposed to do? So I stayed in the shadows. I didn't get caught. Everything turned out okay."

"But you could have gotten caught and been hurt," she said looking at her hands.

I grabbed her hands with mine, "But I wasn't. You can't live in what ifs."

"Wow, how philosophical of you, Stiles," she said with a smirk.

"That's me," I said with a snort, "Now, my question."

She sighed, "What do you want to know about our connection?"

"What does it entail? What does it mean? Will it always be there?" I asked, ticking off the questions in my head.

"Okay, first of all, it means that if I want to, I can see, hear, and feel everything that you see, hear, and feel. If we are near each other, sometimes I can read your mind but I hate doing that so I try not to," she answered.

"You can read my mind?" I practically screamed. If she could read my mind that meant that she could know all of the dirty thoughts I had about her. Or all the bad thoughts I had about her when I was still mad at her. Oh my god, this could be horrible.

She smirked, "Like I said I try not to do that."

"Try not to or don't at all?" I asked, now frantic.

"I've done it once or twice and both times I was not disappointed with what you thought," she said with a quirked eyebrow.

I dropped her hand and rand both of mine over my face. This was my biggest nightmare. The girl of my dreams, my ex-girlfriend, knowing every thought I have about her.

"Next question please," I begged for a change in subject.

"Fine," she sighed, "It just means that we have romantic feelings for each other. And those feelings make us have a sort of tether to each other."

"Meaning what exactly?" I asked, moving my hands to my lap.

She shrugged, "It's not important."

"Em," I said, "Tell me the truth."

She looked up at me, "It means that we're soulmates."


	6. Chapter 6

**Major delay on this chapter but we are pushing along. This is sort of sad towards the end for obvious reasons. Also slight smut (make out scene) towards the middle.**

 **As always, let me know what you think.**

 **Read and enjoy!**

 **I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"I've seen worse," Scott said optimistically.

"Where have you seen worse?" I quipped sarcastically.

"In a horror movie?" Emma suggested.

We were standing in front of the Glen Capri. Also known as the sketchiest motel we've ever seen. Which just so happens to be the only motel that would let all of us high school students stay without being weirded out by it.

Coach blew his whistle, "Listen up! The meet has been pushed back till tomorrow. This is the closest motel with the most vacancies and least amount of good judgement when it comes to accepting a bunch of degenerates like yourselves. You'll be pairing up. Choose wisely."

"I'm gonna go find Allison and Lydia," Emma said, walking away from us.

"Wait, you're not going to share a room with us?" I asked.

She stopped, turned to face me, and smirked, "Did you want me to?"

I swallowed, "No!" she flinched at my outburst, "I just mean, you can stay where you want but I thought we could talk about the Darach some more."

She tucked her hair behind her ear, "I'll come over in a bit and we can keep brainstorming, okay?"

"Okay," I said, happily.

"And I'll have no sexual perversions perpetrated by you little deviants, got that? Baker and Stilinski, I'm looking at you!" Coach yelled as the team walked off to their rooms, "Keep your dirty little hands to your dirty little selves!"

"Got it, Coach!" Emma yelled over her shoulder, winking at me.

I felt my face flush. Just when I thought I was out, she pulls me back in. And now apparently we're soulmates? Whatever the fuck that means. All I know is I don't want to keep being in limbo with her. Either we are back to being friends or we are soulmates. We can't be both.

"You okay, man?" Scott asked, clapping his hand on my back.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head, "Totally fine."

"You're a horrible liar," Scott said with a chuckle.

"Not true, you just are a human lie detector," I said grabbing our keys from Coach.

"Come on, dude. Just tell me what happened," Scott pushed.

"I don't want to talk about it," I mumbled.

"You? Don't wanna talk?" Scott joked.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine. But remember that I tried to not talk about this okay?"

"Fine," Scott said with a laugh.

"I think Emma wants to get back together. Or that we are just going to be friends. I can't tell which. Oh, and apparently we are soulmates. I'm not entirely sure what that means though," I rambled.

"Oh," Scott breathed.

"Yeah," I said softly, unlocking the door to our room.

"Do you want to get back together with her?" he asked me, closing the door behind him.

"I mean, I still love her," I said, "But I still don't understand why she broke up with me in the first place. I mean, I get the first time. I mean like the most recent time. And that, like how many times are we going to break up before we fix our problems?"

"Okay those are a lot of thoughts," Scott said, "But you still love her. And whatever that means to you, that's what you go with. The rest of the stuff you can figure out along the way."

I sighed, "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Fine, like what?" Scott asked, laying on his back on his bed.

I lied on my bed the same way, "Who the Darach is?"

"Who do you think it is?" he asked.

"Alright, so I have four," I said holding up four fingers.

"Four? You have four suspects?" Scott asked, surprised.

"Four? Yeah, I originally had ten," I explained.

"Ten?" he questioned.

"Well, nine technically. I had Derek on there twice," I said.

"So, who's number one? Harris?" Scott asked, reading my mind.

I nodded, "Just cause he's missing doesn't mean he's dead."

"So, if he's not dead, our chemistry teacher is secretly out committing human sacrifices?" Scott pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess that sounded way better in my head," I said.

"What if it's someone else from school? Remember Matt? Nobody knew he was killing people," Scott said.

I stared at him annoyed, "What? I'm sorry?" I stood up from the bed, "Yes we did. I called that from day one actually."

"Yeah, but you were never really serious about it," Scott argued, sitting up.

"I was serious! I was quite serious, actually! Dead serious. No one listened to me," I argued.

"Who are the other three?" Scott asked, changing the subject.

I sighed, "Derek's sister, Cora. No one knows anything about her and she's Derek's sister. Next, your boss."

Scott sat all the way up, "My boss?"

"Yeah, your boss. I don't really like the whole obi-wan thing you've got going on. It freaks me out," I explained. Scott stared at me blankly, "Have you still not seen Star Wars?"

"I swear, if we make it out of this alive, I will watch Star Wars," he said with a smirk.

"It just makes me crazy," I muttered.

"Who's the last one?" he asked.

"Lydia," I sighed, "She was totally controlled by Peter and she had no idea."

Scott and I both sighed. We lied back down on our beds at the same time.

"We'll figure it out," Scott, the optimist, said.

"But how many people will die before we do?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I can't talk about this anymore, I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

He stood up and walked into the small room. I stayed in my position, staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, Scott swung the door to the bathroom wide open, hitting the wall.

"You okay, man?" I asked, sitting up on the bed.

He raced over to the door of our room and ran out into the hallway, slamming the door behind him. Not even twenty seconds later, there was a knock on said door. I stood up from my bed, sighing, thinking it was Scott. I swung open the door to be greeted by Emma.

"Hey," I said with a smile.

She walked into the room, pushing past me. I closed the door, then turned to ask her why she was here when I felt her lips on mine. They were pushing against mine lightly but as I fully turned my body to her, the pressure increased. She pushed me against the closed door and pulled away from my lips to kiss my neck. I moved my hands to her waist, pulling her closer to me. Her lips trailed back up my jaw, to my lips. Once reconnected, I opened my mouth to let her tongue dance with mine. I pulled on the hem of her tee shirt and she pulled back to move it over her head. I took her moment of distance to move us off the door and against the wall. I flipped us so she was pressed between my body and the wall. My hands that were on her waist now moved to her ass, pulling her closer to me. She all but ripped my shirt off of my body before I had the time to pull it over my head. I moved my lips to her neck and began to kiss her pulse point.

"Fuck, Stiles," she moaned.

God, I had missed that sound. No other girls' moans were ever going to compare to hers. I don't know why I thought they would. The way she moans my name like it's a god damn chant. I can't get over it. I won't ever get over it.

Suddenly, I was getting hit by the door to our room. We were getting hit, I felt Emma move out from between me and the wall. I grabbed my head as I hissed in pain from getting hit by a door.

"Oh, shit," Scott breathed, "Um, sorry guys."

"Oh my god," Emma mumbled. She looked around the floor for her shirt. I found it at my feet and picked it up.

"Babe," I said, holding it out for her to take.

"Thanks," she mumbled, taking the shirt from my hand without making eye contact. And with that, she turned and walked out of the room.

Scott stared at me for a long time with a knowing smirk.

"What?" I asked, putting my shirt on.

"Are you sure you're still confused?" he asked, still smirking.

"Shut up," I said, grabbing my sweatshirt, "I'm going to the vending machine."

 **Emma's POV**

What the fuck just happened? Why the fuck was I just shirtless with Stiles who was also shirtless? Did I black out? The last thing I remember was Allison getting in the shower and Lydia going to get new towels so I decided to call my mom. Clearly, I didn't actually call my mom. What would have happened if Scott hadn't come in the room?

I shook my head and walked back to my hotel room. Lydia was just walking back with towels in her hands. She looked very confused.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "Let's go in the room. We can talk to Allison about it."

I nodded and followed her in.

"Are you guys okay?" Allison asked us.

"Emma was coming from her bf's room," Lydia sang.

"He's not my bf," I said, annoyed.

"Notice that you didn't disagree that you were there," Allison said with a smirk.

"I don't even remember going there," I said seriously.

"Wait, what?" Lydia asked.

"The last thing I remember is leaving the room to call my mom and then I came to as shirtless me and shirtless Stiles were kissing. The only reason I even came to at all was because Scott hit us with a door," I explained.

"Kissing?" Lydia squealed, "So are you back together?"

I sighed, "Can we please change the subject? Like, what were you going to tell us, Lyds?"

She squinted her eyes at me like she wanted to argue but decided against it.

"There's a number of all of the suicides that have been committed in this hotel. Apparently they have the highest amount of suicides in California," Lydia explained.

"What?" Allison and I questioned.

"Yeah, 198," Lydia said.

"198?" Allison asked.

"Yes. And we're talking 40 years. On average that's, 4.95 a year which is actually not unexpected," Lydia said, "But who commemorates that with a framed number? Who does that?"

"All suicides?" I asked.

"Yeah; hanging, throat cutting, pill popping, both barrels of a shotgun in the mouth, suicides," Lydia said, descriptively, "I don't know about you, but me, I…"

"Lydia?" I asked as she trailed off mid thought. She was concentrating on something.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?" Allison asked confused. I shook my head.

Lydia stood then climbed on the bed. She was staring at the vent. Her heart beat was going crazy. She was trembling.

"Lydia," Allison asked. We both moved closer to her.

"Oh my god," she whispered.

Suddenly, she jumped back, her hand over her mouth. Allison and I moved to catch her before she fell off the bed.

"What is it?" I asked. Confused about why I couldn't hear anything and I was a werewolf.

"Lydia what happened?" Allison asked.

"Didn't you hear that?" Lydia asked, her voice breaking. She was crying.

"Hear what?" Allison and I asked.

"The two people in the other room," she explained, "They shot each other."

She pushed past us and ran out of the room and into the hallway. Allison and I exchanged a look but followed Lydia into the hall. She stood outside the room next door. We ran to her side as she opened the door.

"Hello?" she said into the empty room, trying to turn on the lights.

"Lydia, what are you doing?" Allison asked.

Lydia moved into the room to find a light. I followed behind her, having slightly better vision due to my supernatural eyes. Lydia turned on the lights and the room was empty of furniture, people, everything. It was like the room was completely gutted and ready for a renovation.

"It had to be right here. It was a guy and a girl, and, I mean, they sounded younger, but they were here," Lydia said, begging us to believe her.

"I believe you," Allison said, crossing to Lydia, "After everything we've been through, I believe you."

"Me too," I said softly.

Lydia looked at us with a soft smile. Then she turned to look around the room. She stopped and then walked towards the far wall. She was staring at something and turning her head like she was trying to hear better.

"We need to leave," Lydia said, turning to face Allison and I and dragging us out of the room.

Lydia ran into our room and began packing her stuff up.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"There is something seriously wrong with this place. We need to leave," she said, continuing her packing.

"But they were suicides. Not murders," Allison pointed out, "And it's not like this place is haunted right?"

"Maybe it is," Lydia said with a shrug, "You know, I bet that couple made their suicide pact in that very room."

"Maybe that's why they're renovating," I added, "Maybe they're scrapping brain matter off of the wood paneling."

"Maybe we should find out," Allison suggested.

"Fine," Lydia agreed.

"You guys go, I'm going to take a shower," I said.

They looked at me for a second before they both nodded and left the room. I felt a weird wave wash over me like a high level of anxiety. I went into the bathroom and got undressed for my shower. I climbed into the shower and began to wash my hair and body like normal until I felt claw marks on my chest. I looked down at my body and saw blood washing down my body and into the tub below me. I looked at my arm and saw wires coming out of my wrist. I felt the electricity going through my body, stopping me from shifting. Stopping me from healing. Knocking on the bathroom door made me look up.

"Emma, are you okay?" I heard Allison's voice ask.

I looked down at my body and my skin was back to normal. No more claw marks, no more electricity. I was completely fine. I shook my head and the negative thoughts away.

"I'm fine," I said, my voice cracking, "I'll be out in a second."

 **Stiles' POV**

"The last time I saw Scott act like that was during the full moon," Allison said, coming back from checking on Emma.

"Yeah, he was definitely a little off with me too. But actually it was Boyd who was really off. I watched him put his fist through a vending machine," I explained, leaving out the small detail that Emma was also acting weird because that could be werewolf related but it could also be girl related.

"See?" Lydia gestured towards me, "It is the motel! Either we need to get out of here right now or," she turned around and opened the night stand to grab the bible, "someone needs to learn how to perform an exorcism ASAP before the werewolves go crazy and kill us."

"Hold on a second," Emma said from the doorway of the bathroom, grabbing all of our attention.

Her hair was dark and dripping around her face. She looked paler than usual, almost like she had just seen a ghost. She was in shorts and a tank top. For the first time since the semester started, I could see the scar that traveled from her wrist up to her elbow. It looked bumpy and red. I had to resist the urge to trace it with my finger, or worse, my lips.

"What if it isn't just the hotel?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows at me.

"The hotel numbers went up by three," I added.

"You mean like three sacrifices?" Allison asked.

"Like three werewolves," I explained.

"Scott, Isaac, and Boyd," Allison breathed.

"We were meant to come here," I explained.

"So, can we get out of here now? Please?" Lydia begged Allison and me.

"Hold on a second," Emma said, crossing over to Lydia. She grabbed the bible out of her hands and opened it on the bed. News articles started to fall out of the bible, the pages old and new.

"What is that?" Allison asked.

"28 year old man hung himself at the infamous Glen Capri," I read over Emma's shoulder.

"Look at these two," Lydia said, pointing at two articles, "These both mention room 217. These are probably the suicides that happened in this room."

"And if every room has a bible," Allison added.

"There could be articles in all the rooms," Emma finished.

"That's a beautiful thing. Most people leave a mint under the pillow," I said sarcastically, "They keep a record of all the horrible deaths that occur."

"What if the room next door has the one about the couple?" Lydia asked.

I understood where she was going with that though process. I quickly left the room, going to the one next door. I pulled on the door handle but it was locked and it wouldn't budge.

"That was not locked before," Emma explained.

"Forget it," Allison said, "We need to get Scott, Isaac, and Boyd out of here."

She was right. I moved past the girls to go to the room Scott and I were sharing when I hear a buzzing noise coming from the room.

"I'm not the only one who heard that am I?" Lydia asked.

"It sounds like someone turned on the hand saw," Emma said confused.

I rushed back to the door, "Hand saw?"

Emma nodded. She kicked open the door with her werewolf strength. It swung open to show Ethan with the hand saw, about to slice himself in half.

"Ethan!" I yelled, "No!"

Without thinking, I ran over to him and began to fight over the saw with him. I tried to grab it out of his hands but he was a lot stronger than me and he was winning. I finally got it out of his hands and onto the floor but the effort I exerted threw me off balance and I fell right above the blade. I caught myself right before my face hit the blade.

Ethan then whipped out his claws and began to scratch at his stomach. Emma, who had apparently moved behind me, and I lunged at him to get him to stop. She was much stronger than I was and pulled him towards her. He fell onto the space heater in the room and fell to the ground.

"Ow!" he yelled, clutching his hand. He looked around the room at all of us, panting heavily. "What just happened?"

He looked at us again. Then he ran out of the room and into the hallway.

"Ethan!" Emma yelled, running after him. We all followed after her.

"I don't know how I got there or what I was doing," he said, not stopping as he walked down the stairs.

"I know, that's what I want to talk to you about," she said with panic in her voice.

"It happened to you?" he asked, stopping.

"Yes, so please. Just tell me what happened," she pleaded.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" he asked, walking down the stairs again. "I don't know how I got there or what I was doing."

"You could be a little bit more helpful, ya know. We did just save your life," I pointed out, backing Emma up.

"You probably shouldn't have," Ethan said, walking away.

"What now?" Lydia asked.

"I'll grab Scott," Allison said, "You guys go find Isaac and Boyd. The best thing to do is to get them out of here."

"What about Seth?" Emma asked, "Does anyone know where he is?"

"He was staying with Isaac and Boyd. We can look there," Lydia said, starting up the stairs.

Emma gave her a worried look. She glanced back at me and bit her lip. Lydia was looking between the two of us. I thought maybe they were doing some type of girl communication with their minds but then Lydia seemed confused also.

"What?" Lydia finally asked Emma, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Lyds, I didn't want to say anything but this," Emma stated, gesturing around herself to the hotel, "Everything we are going through, we've gone through something like this once before. A lot like this."

"What do you mean?" she asked, still confused, "When?"

"Your birthday party," Emma stated, "The night you poisoned everyone with wolfsbane."

A look of realization came over Lydia. I realized what Emma was talking about too. She was the only one not effected that night so she would know what it looked like. She had a theory that could very well be true. But we needed to get them out of the hotel before it got worse.

We walked up the stairs to Isaac, Boyd, and Seth's room in silence. The bomb that Emma just dropped, settling around us. Lydia seemed to be deep in thought. Emma looked like she was in a haze and that's when I realized something.

"Wait, Emma, are you okay?" I asked, stopping her at the top of the stairs.

She shook her head, "I'll be fine. We need to help the guys first."

"No," I said, grabbing her wrist as she tried to walk away, "What happened?"

She sighed, "I don't know. That's the problem."

"Do you hear that?" Lydia said, interrupting us.

Emma listened for a second, "Running water. And a baby."

"Someone is drowning the baby," Lydia said through tears.

"Someone is drowning," Emma said with wide eyes.

We all busted through the door of the room the other guys were sharing. I ran to the bathroom to see Boyd with a safe on his chest in the bathtub. He was the one drowning. I tried to drain the bathtub but it was stuck.

"He blocked it. He blocked the drain with something," I explained.

"What do we do?" Lydia asked.

"Here," Emma said kneeling down next to the safe, "Help me move this."

We couldn't move the safe.

"Is he dead?" Lydia asked.

"It's too heavy!" I exclaimed, frustrated. I moved back towards the bedroom and hit my arm on the radiator in the wall. "Wait a second. The heater. Ethan came out of it when he touched the heater."

"What?" Lydia asked.

"Heat," I explained, "Fire. Heat. We need something -."

"He's underwater!" she argued.

"Yes, I'm aware of that!" I argued back.

"Wait," Emma exclaimed, "On the bus, they'll have emergency road flares."

"They have their own oxidizers, they can burn underwater," Lydia added.

"Wait, are you sure?" I asked them.

"Yes!" they both yelled.

"Okay!" I ran out the door and to the bus in record time. I found the box with the road flares and other stuff underneath the driver's seat. I grabbed one and ran back to the room.

When I got back, Lydia was in the bathroom with Boyd still but Emma was sitting next to the bed. She looked even more pale, if that was possible. She was whispering but I couldn't hear what she was saying.

"What do I do?" I asked Lydia.

"The cap, it's like a match," she explained.

I pulled the cap off and struck the top like she told me to. Red flames quickly came out of the stick. I ran to the bathroom and put it in the bathtub with Boyd, hoping it would work. Boyd quickly launched himself and the safe out of the tub. He was completely transformed, growling at us in pain.

"Stiles," Emma yelled from the other room. I walked in to see that she hadn't moved from her position. "Did you bring another one of those?"

I nodded, crossing over to where she was. I handed her the flare thinking she was going to use it on herself. Instead, she lit the flare, winced at the heat, and then stuck it under the bed. I looked under the bed to see Isaac starting to transform and move towards us. Emma pulled me to my feet and out of his way. He crossed over to her and hugged her.

"Where is Seth?" she asked.

"I don't know," Isaac said softly, "He left the room a while ago."

Emma nodded, hugged Isaac one more time, and turned and left the hotel room. As we were walking down the hall, we ran into Allison.

"I can't find Scott anywhere," she explained.

"Yeah, we can't find Seth," Lydia told her.

"It's happening to them too, isn't it?" I asked as we walked down the stairs.

"It has to be," Emma said.

"Didn't you say there was another flare on the bus?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, I'll get it," I said, moving towards the bus.

I stopped in my tracks to see Scott and Seth dosed in a liquid that smelled like gasoline, holding the last flare which was lit.

"Scott?" Allison called, walking around them, "Scott?"

"There's no hope," Scott said, his voice cracking.

"What do you mean, Scott?" Allison asked, "There's always hope."

"Not for me. Not for us," he said pointing to Seth, "Not for Derek."

"Derek wasn't your fault," Allison pointed out, "You know Derek wasn't your fault."

"Every time we try to fight back, it gets worse," Seth said solemnly.

"People keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed," Scott added.

"Scott, listen to me," I begged, tears in my eyes, "This isn't you. Alright? This is someone inside your head telling you to do this."

"What if it isn't?" Scott asked, "What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing that I can do for everyone else?" He was sobbing at this point. "It all started that night. The night I got bitten. Do you remember the way it was before that? You and me? We were nothing. We weren't popular. We weren't good at lacrosse. We weren't important. We were no one. Maybe I should just be no one again. No one at all."

He turned the flare, ready to light himself and Seth up in flames.

"Scott, just listen to me. You're not no one. Okay? You're someone. Scott, you're my best friend. Okay? And I need you. Scott, you're my brother." I stepped onto the gasoline with him, "Alright, so if you're going to do this then you're just going to have to take me with you then."

I tried to grabbed the flare but Seth took it out of Scott's hand before I could. That bastard.

"Seth, no," Emma said, coming closer to us. I didn't move from my position with Scott. I worried if I did, he might change his mind.

"What's the point, Emma?" Seth asked her.

"After everything that we have been through, you're going to ask me that?" she asked, still coming closer.

"I hurt everyone. I hurt Derek. I hurt my parents. I hurt your parents. I hurt you. You of all people should want me dead," he said, his voice cracking.

"Seth," Emma sighed, "You have made it up to me more times than I can count. Yes, in the past you've made mistakes but you have a second chance. Don't screw that up by doing this."

"I don't deserve a second chance," he argued.

"After this summer, you sure as hell deserve a million chances," Emma said, her voice cracking. She stepped on to the gasoline, glancing at me as she did so. "And if the boy I love can go down with his brother, then I can go down with mine. You have a family that loves you. And friends who care about you. And a pack who needs you. But, if you want to do this, if you want to end it all, fine. But then you're taking me with you."

I watched as Seth hesitated, his grip on the flare loosening. Emma moved towards him methodically, pulling the flare from his hand and throwing it away from all of us and out of the puddle of gasoline. We all sighed with relief. Until the flare blew in the wind towards the puddle, igniting it almost immediately.

"No!" Lydia yelled, jumping on Scott and me.

Emma tackled Seth to the ground, getting him out of the way just in the nick of time. We all landed on the ground in a pile as the flames from the puddle blew around, the heat from them being strong as hell. We looked around at each other, wondering if this was finally the end of this horrible night.

 **Emma's POV**

"I don't wanna know," I heard Coach's voice saying loudly.

I opened my eyes but all I was met with was a gray tee shirt that smelled like soap and mint gum, subtle hints of curly fries. I lifted my head off of Stiles' chest, removing his arm from my shoulder.

"I really don't wanna know. But in case you missed the announcement, the meet is cancelled," Coach explained, "So we're heading home. Pack it in!"

Ethan sat in front of Stiles and I in the seat with Scott, "I don't know what happened last night but I'm pretty sure you saved my life."

"Actually, I saved your life," Stiles said from next to me, "Just minor details."

"So I'm going to give you something," Ethan said, ignoring Stiles, "We're pretty sure Derek is still alive. But he killed one of ours which means one of two things can happen. Either he joins our pack."

"And he kills his own," Scott finished.

Ethan nodded, "Or Kali goes after him. And we kill him. That's the way it works."

"Well, your little code of ethics there is sort of barbaric," Stiles quipped as Ethan once again ignored him and walked away.

"Hey Ethan," Coach said, walking towards the back of the bus.

"Hey, Coach can I see that for a second?" Lydia asked, standing to grab Coach's whistle from him.

"I'm gonna need that back," Coach said before continuing back towards Ethan.

Lydia sat down in the seat next to Allison. She cupped her hand around the whistle and blew. When she moved her hand away, there was a suspicious purple powder on her hand.

"Wolfsbane," she said, looking at me.

"So every time that Coach blew the whistle on the bus; Scott, Isaac, Seth, Emma, and Boyd," Stiles explained.

"And Ethan," Lydia added.

"We all inhaled it," Scott continued.

"You were all poisoned by it," Allison confirmed.

"That's how the Darach got in their heads," Stiles said softly, "That's how he did it."

He quickly grabbed the whistle from Lydia. He reached over me and opened the window. He threw the whistle out of the window.

"Stilinski!" Coach yelled at him.

"Sorry, Coach," he yelled back.

We started the drive back to Beacon Hills. Lydia and Seth were sharing a seat, quietly talking about, who knows what. Allison was sleeping in her seat. Scott was studying. I looked at Stiles who liked like it was taking everything in him to not move or talk.

"What are you doing?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Trying not to make you uncomfortable," he explained.

"By making yourself uncomfortable?" I asked.

He sighed, "I just don't want to scare you off."

"I'm not a rabbit, Stiles," I said sarcastically, "Whatever you want to say, say it."

"What do you want?" he asked, finally looking at me.

"What do you meant, what do I want?" I asked, confused.

"From me," he elaborated.

"Oh," I said softly.

"Cause every time I think I know what you want, you do something like make out with me or call me the 'boy you love' and I question everything," he rambled.

"Stiles, I do love you," I said softly, "I just didn't think you wanted to hear that from me anymore."

"I still love you," he said.

I felt the weight that had been on my shoulders lift. Finally, we were getting some where with this. Finally, we were having a conversation about how we felt that didn't involve screaming at each other or losing articles of clothing.

"So what do you want?" I asked him.

He shrugged, "I want to know why you broke up with me before you went to England. I want to know when you decided you loved me. I want to know more about this soulmates thing. I want to know if you want to give this another chance."

I smirked, "Okay, I'll tell you everything you need to know."

And so I did.


	7. Chapter 7

**I do NOT own Teen Wolf, only my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

"Come on, Sti, it's not that hard," Emma said with a sigh from her spot on my bed.

"Ugh," I groaned, leaning back in my desk chair, "It's just hard to focus on studying for the SAT when there are literal human sacrifices happening possibly at this very moment."

Emma's hand dropped to the bed, next to her. She rolled her eyes, "Wow, that's really comforting."

"I'm sorry," I said with a shrug, "But can you honestly tell me that you don't have that thought constantly nagging in the back of your mind?"

"Of course I do! But that doesn't mean I'm going to let it get in the way of my life," she argued.

"Studying for the SAT is not my life," I pointed out.

"Maybe not, but the results from the SAT will affect your life," she said with a smirk.

"Fine," I said with a sigh, rolling closer to the bed on my chair, "What was the word again?"

"Forget it," she said looking at the discarded cards on my bed, "I don't even remember which one it was."

"So we can take a break?" I asked, hopeful.

"What kind of break?" she asked, scooting closer to the edge of the bed, and me.

"I think you know what kind of break," I said softly with a smirk.

She got to the edge of the bed and put her hands on my shoulders, pulling me closer to her. I glanced down at her lips, darting my tongue out to wet my own. I closed the distance between us, brushing my lips over hers. Our lips melted together. I pushed my tongue out of my lips, asking for entrance to her mouth. She allowed me in and our tongues danced together. She moved her hands from my shoulders to the base of my neck, playing with my hair. I moved my hands to her waist and pulled her off of the bed and onto my lap. She straddled me on the chair. I moved my mouth from hers to her neck, kissing my way down to her collarbone.

"Wait," she breathed.

I pulled back, looking up at her. Her lips were swollen from our kiss and her eyes looked dazed.

"Sorry," I said letting go of her waist and scratching the back of my neck.

She shook her head, "No, I'm sorry."

"This whole going slow thing is harder than I thought it would be," I said honestly.

After the cross country trip from hell, we had had a very long talk. She told me the truth about why she broke up with me before the summer. I told her about my escapades this summer. She told me about how she loved me before we broke up but she knew it would make it harder for her to go to England. We talked about everything. Our past, our present, and our hopeful future. We were in a good place for the first time in a very long time. This lead to the decision to get back together. However, we both agreed that we rushed into it the first time and we wanted to take our time now. So we were going slow. But god damn was it the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

"I know," she said, moving off of my lap, "But I don't want us to do anything before we are ready. I know it sounds dumb."

I grabbed her hand, "It's not dumb. We agreed for a reason. It's just hard to stop when we've already started."

She sighed, "Again, I'm sorry."

"Will you stop?" I said with a laugh, "It's fine. It's just gonna talk some time to get used to it."

She nodded, biting her lip. I stood up from my seat and crossed over to her. I placed my hands on her cheeks, moving her head to look at me. I gently kissed her lips. A delicate peck, barely lasting long enough for her to react.

"Don't worry so much, Em," I said softly.

My phone ringing interrupted our moment. I slowly let go of her and moved to my desk to get my phone.

"Hello?" I said quickly.

"Stiles, you need to meet me at the hospital," Scott's voice responded frantically.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, nodding at Emma. She moved to put her shoes on, getting ready to run out of the house with me.

"Not really," Scott said ominously, there was a lot of background noise on his side of the call, "Just get here and I will explain."

I hung up and moved to grab my sweatshirt from my dresser. Emma was ready to go and standing by the door to my room.

"I have to go to the hospital," I explained, "You can come with, obviously."

She shrugged, "Wherever you go, I go."

 **Emma's POV**

"Two missing," Scott explained to the sheriff.

"Wait, hang on there," the man replied, holding his hand up, "They were both in the car."

"No, dad, we've been trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay?" Stiles explained, frustrated, "Two doctors. Both gone."

"So, who's car is this?" the sheriff asked.

"Dr. Hilyard's the on-call doctor. The ER attending is the one who never made it in," Melissa explained.

"Let's just focus on getting your story first, okay?" the sheriff asked Melissa.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"Boys, Emma, can you give us a second?" he asked the three of us. We all nodded and moved away from the adults toward the building.

"These are definitely sacrifices, guys," Scott said.

"Yeah, that's something Deaton mentioned. Healers," Stiles explained to us.

"But what about Danny?" I added.

"He threw up mistletoe. That's not a coincidence. And if he hadn't been with Ethan, he probably would have died. Is Danny a healer?" Scott agreed.

Stiles shook his head. Then he looked past Scott and I with wide eyes. "Can either of you hear that?" he said, pointing to his father over Scott's shoulder.

We turned around. I tuned into the phone call that the sheriff was on.

"They found a body," Scott told Stiles.

"Your dad is going to the crime scene," I added.

"Okay, so what do we do about the other doctor?" Stiles asked us.

I shrugged, "Is there anything we can do?"

"We can do research!" Stiles said, flailing his arms, "Figure out who else might be a healer."

"My mom," Scott and I said at the same time. We gave each other a knowing look.

"My mom saved Danny's life, guys. I have to go make sure she isn't a sacrifice," Scott explained.

"Of course, Scotty," I said with a nod.

"I'll see you guys later, let me know if you find out anything," Scott said, walking back over to his mom.

"I need to go home and make sure my mom is okay," I said to Stiles.

"I'll go with you," Stiles said with a small smile.

We walked back to the Jeep in silence, climbing in. We headed out of the parking lot and to my house. On the way, I called Seth to see if he was home but he wasn't answering. I thought about calling Lydia to see if she knew where he was but decided against it. We pulled into my driveway and quickly got out of the car. I walked into my house to see Isaac, Seth, and my mom sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hi," I said softly.

They all looked up at me with smiles.

"Hey, we were just discussing what to have for dinner," my mom explained, "Stiles, you're more than welcome to join us."

"Thanks, Mrs. Baker," Stiles said awkwardly.

"What did you guys decide on?" I asked.

"Ordering pizza," Seth said with a smirk.

"I like that plan," I said with a snort.

"I'll go order it now," my mom said, standing up from the table to get the menu from the counter.

"Guys," I whispered to the boys, "we need to talk."

"About?" Isaac said with a raised eyebrow.

"Sacrifices," Stiles whispered.

"Who's missing?" Seth asked looking worried.

"Don't worry, Lydia is fine," Stiles said annoyed by Seth.

"Okay," I said, interrupting their feud, "Two doctors are missing. Stiles thinks healers are being taken."

"Healers?" Isaac questioned.

"Doctors, nurses, people who heal other people," I said slowly.

"Doctors, like your mom," Seth concluded.

"And nurses like Melissa," Isaac added.

"Exactly," I said.

"Exactly what?" my mom said coming back over to the table.

Stiles and I slowly sat in the seats opposite Isaac and Seth. We looked at the boys with wide eyes. I didn't know whether or not we should tell my mom. Seth nodded at me, telling me that he thought we should.

"Mom," I said putting my hand on hers, "There's something you need to know."

"What's going on?" she said looking to the boys.

"Dr. Baker," Isaac started, "There's something bad in Beacon Hills."

"The alpha pack?" she asked, she brushed Isaac off, "I know all about them."

"No, not the alpha pack," Seth said slowly, "There is something far worse than an alpha pack in Beacon Hills."

She raised her eyebrows, "Okay, you guys are scaring me. What is it?"

"Mom," I said softly, looking at our hands, "There's a darach in town and it's taking people and killing them in sacrificial ways."

"A darach?" my mom asked, her face growing pale, "No, that can't be."

"Wait, you know what darachs are?" Stiles questioned.

"I've only heard stories. Horror stories from my parents but I thought they were fiction," my mom said frantically.

"Grandma and grandpa know about darachs?" I asked.

"Of course they do, honey. Druids, darachs, psychics, they all go together in a way," she explained, "But why are you guys just telling me about this now? I thought we agreed open communication after what happened to you two in London."

I winced at her words. I knew I should have told her sooner. I just didn't want it to become such a big problem that I had to tell my mom. I thought we could handle it on our own, without her help. And there was that sentence. 'What happened to you two in London.' Stiles has been wonderful with not pushing me to talk about it but when it keeps being brought up in conversation, I doubt he's going to be able to ignore it much longer.

"We did," Seth said softly, "And we have been pretty good about it. But we thought we could handle this on our own. Clearly, that's not the case anymore. Hence, we are talking to you about it."

"Mom, the people that the darach is taking this time are healers. Two doctors are missing. That means that you are in danger. We decided to tell you now because we thought it would help you to protect yourself," I explained.

"Honey, no one is taking me anywhere," she said with a smile.

"Of course not," Seth said smiling back at her, "Cause one of us will be with you at all times."

"That's not necessary," she tried to argue.

I shook my head, "Mom, it's already decided. Just let us feel a little better by protecting you."

She nodded, "Fine but I will not be babysat. We will have to find something to do while you are constantly with me."

"That sounds reasonable," Seth said with a laugh.

The doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of the pizza we had ordered. We all sat at the table, eating the pizza, and talking about our days. We discussed the plan for the night. Who would take what shifts. Isaac decided that he was going to sleep at the McCall's to help Scott protect Melissa. After we finished eating and cleaning up the table; Stiles, my mom, and I sat in the living room to watch some movies while Seth napped in preparation for his shift. When the movie was over, my mom announced that she was tired and going to bed. She made Stiles and I promise that we wouldn't follow her to bed. We agreed but I text Seth to make sure he knew where she was. We stayed up, watching tv for a little bit longer. I constantly had my ears strained to listen for my mom to make sure she was okay. Every time I listened, I heard her snores and knew she was sound asleep. Seth texted me to tell me that he was awake so we could finally go to bed.

Stiles and I went up to my room to get ready for bed. We changed into our pajamas and got under the covers. I snuggled up to Stiles, my head resting on his chest.

"Can I ask you something?" he said softly.

"Anything," I said into his chest.

"What happened to you and Seth this summer?" he asked.

I sighed. I moved my head from his chest to lay on my own pillow. When I said anything, I meant anything but that. Stiles turned to face me. When he saw that I wasn't looking at him but rather at the ceiling, he moved so he was lying between my legs with his head on my chest. He grabbed my hands in his.

"You don't have to tell me," he said playing with our intertwined fingers.

"No," I said, "I want to tell you. It's just…hard."

"You can tell me when you're ready to. I don't want to push you," he mumbled.

"This summer," I started. I swallowed the lump in my throat, "Seth and I met up with a pack when we got to London so that we weren't completely omegas. Ya know? Cause being an omega is bad and we thought we would be proactive."

I felt Stiles nod against my stomach. I took that as a cue to keep going.

"Well this pack that we met, they weren't really that great. They were kind of evil actually. They didn't really think there was anything wrong with hurting humans or turning people and Seth and I were uncomfortable with a lot of their choices. So we left. We found another pack, the one that Jackson ended up joining, and they were so much better. They had a code and normal beliefs. They were good people," I said my voice cracking.

"Why do I feel like something horrible happens in this story?" Stiles asked softly.

"Cause something does," I said.

"Do you want to keep going?" he asked looking up at me.

I nodded. He deserved to know. And now that I had started, it was easier to keep going.

"One day, I was walking home from one of the shops down the street from where my grandparents lived. I was grabbed by a couple of hunters. They knocked me out with wolfsbane and I woke up in a cellar. They kept asking me to tell them where the evil pack was and where the alpha was and who the alpha was. I kept telling them that I didn't know who the alpha was. That I had never met him. That they weren't even my pack anymore. But they had me strung up by electrical wires on a fence," I explained, my eyes welling with tears.

"That's how Gerard had Erica and Boyd," Stiles informed me.

"It's a common hunter practice. They are trained to know how high to turn it so that a werewolf can't transform and how much higher it needs to be so that they can't heal. Only these hunters, took it to another level. I had wires tying my wrists, ankles, and body to the fence. But I also had wires in my arms and legs that were connected to their own electricity. They didn't like my answers to their questions because next thing I knew, they pulled out an electrified and wolfsbane laced knife. One of the hunters asked me more questions about the alpha but when I couldn't give them an answer, they stabbed me with the knife in my wrist and dragged it through my skin all the up to my elbow," I said looking at the scar on my arm, tears falling down my face.

I felt Stiles' tears on my stomach, through my shirt. He moved a bit up my body, taking my arm in his hands. He slowly kissed from the start of the scar, all the way up to my elbow, then he lifted his face until it was right by mine.

"Is that what this is?" he asked. I nodded, "Why didn't it heal?"

"A combination of the wolfsbane and the level of electricity," I explained.

"How did you get free from the hunters?" he asked, moving back to his position between my legs. His head resting back on my chest.

"Seth saved me. He killed almost all of the hunters. He apparently put a tracker in my phone that I was unaware of. When I didn't come home, he knew something was up so he confronted one of the betas of the bad pack and they told him about the hunters. Then he knew something really was wrong. But he found me and rescued me from the hunters," I explained with a small smile.

"How heroic," Stiles mumbled.

"Oh, stop," I said with a snort, "You don't have to be jealous."

"I'm not jealous. I'm glad Seth saved you," Stiles argued. I gave him a look that told him I didn't believe him, "If he hadn't saved you…"

"Stiles," I said, running my fingers through his hair.

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if the last time we ever talked was our breakup," he said softly.

"Well, luckily you don't have to worry about that," I said with a small smile, "I'm here now and I'm fine."

"Thank god for that," Stiles said, hugging me tighter.

 **Stiles' POV**

"Good morning," Miss Blake said, greeting our chemistry class, "As you all know, Mr. Harris is still missing. I mean, sick. Anyway, uh, I'm filling in while we all hope and pray for a more qualified substitute to take my place. Okay, so, let's get started shall we?"

"Hey," I said nudging Scott, "My dad said the ER attending wasn't strangled but he did die of asphyxiation they just don't know how."

"Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?" Scott asked.

"I don't know," I admitted, "But Scott there's gotta be at least 20 other doctors in that hospital, at least. And any one of them could be next."

Scott's phone vibrated. He quickly turned around and answered the phone. I couldn't hear his conversation but from his body language, I knew it wasn't good. When he hung up the phone, he turned to me and told me that Dr. Deaton had been taken. He called Scott to tell him to find him. Scott practically ran out the door the minute class was over. I called my dad as soon as he was gone. My dad told me that he would check out the animal clinic just to make sure. I attempted to go through the rest of the school day, trying to be positive despite the fact that another person had been taken.

"Let's go to the animal clinic," Emma said, interrupting my thoughts.

"We have to go to class," I argued.

"No, we don't. I can feel the anxiety coming off of you. We can go. It's not a big deal. We've been good this year. A couple of classes isn't going to ruin our GPAs," she pointed out.

"You're right," I said, defeated.

"No, duh," she said with a smirk, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the building.

We walked out of school and to my Jeep. I headed towards the animal clinic. Emma was texting someone on her phone. I assumed it was Seth and didn't question it.

"What?" she asked, not looking up from her phone.

"Nothing," I replied, looking back at the road.

"You want to ask me something so, ask," she said finally looking up at me.

I sighed, "I was just wondering who you were texting."

"Seth," she said, putting her phone in her pocket, "I was letting him know what happened. That way, he can tell Lydia, Allison, and whoever else so that everyone is in the loop."

I nodded, "I figured."

"Why were you so nervous to ask me that?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Cause I didn't want you to think I'm jealous or that I don't trust you," I answered honestly.

"Well, I don't think that. I don't want there to be any secrets between us," she said softly, "Any secrets at all."

"Me neither," I said, breathing a sigh of relief.

We pulled into the animal clinic parking lot. We climbed out of the Jeep and ran into the building. We were greeted by my dad, a deputy, and Scott with his hand in his hands. Emma rushed over to him and put an arm around his shoulders, comforting him.

Emma and I sat with Scott as he told my dad what Deaton said to him on the phone. My dad took his statement with sadness in his eyes. He looked at me to make sure I was okay. I nodded, telling him to focus on Scott.

"We're going to do everything we can," he said, putting a hand on Scott's shoulder, "But you three need to get back to school."

He sent one more glance my way before leaving the room with his deputy in tow. Scott nodded at Emma and I, motioning for us to follow him. We followed him into a room with a bunch of crates and cats.

"We have to tell him," Scott said desperately.

I gave him a look, "You mean like 'tell him' tell him. Or telling him something else that isn't telling him what I think you're telling him."

"You know what I mean," Scott said.

"Do you remember how your mom reacted? She wouldn't look you in the eye for like a week," I argued.

"And she got over it," he pointed out. I thought about what he was saying, "And it actually made us closer."

"No," I mumbled, "Look at him, he's overwhelmed as it is."

"He's overwhelmed cause he has no clue what's happening," Emma said, putting her hand on my arm, "There's people dying in this town. The town he is supposed to protect and it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening."

"He's gonna find out sooner or later," Scott added.

"But is now really the right time?" I asked.

"What if not telling him now gets someone else killed?" Scott argued.

"What if telling him gets him killed? Huh?" I argued. I felt my heart racing. "Look, I get that Deaton has been like a father to you. I get that. Okay? But this is my," I swallowed the lump in my throat, "my actual father. I can't…I can't lose both of my parents. Alright? Not both of them."

Emma's hand that was on my arm moved to my hand, clutching it tightly. She pulled me to her side, almost protectively. She gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You're right," she said softly, "If it was my mom and she didn't know about the supernatural, I wouldn't want to risk it either. So, you're right."

"No," I sighed, "I'm not. I'm not right. I'll tell him."

"I'll help you," Scott said with a nod.

"We'll help you," Emma corrected.

Scott turned around to leave the small room. Emma went to follow him but I pulled her back by our hands. I pulled her into my arms, giving her a quick hug, kissing the top of her head, before releasing her so she could follow Scott. We both left the small room, still holding hands.

"Please, whatever you need. How ever you can help find my brother," Ms. Morrell said to my dad.

Scott, Emma, and I looked at each other in confusion. " _Brother?_ " I mouthed to both of them. They shrugged, not knowing either.

"Will you excuse us for a moment?" my dad asked before leaving the room with his deputy.

Ms. Morrell crossed over to us, "Listen closely, all of you. No sheriff, deputy, or detective is going to be able to find him."

"You don't have to ask us for help," Scott, always the hero, pointed out.

"Actually, I'm trying to help you. Because if you're going to find my brother, you're going to have to get help from the one person who has the ability to seek out the supernatural," she said ominously.

"Lydia," Emma whispered.

 **Emma's POV**

"Hey grandma, it's me. I was just calling to ask you a few questions about some things. Can you call me back when you get a chance? It's really important. Thanks!" I said with false positivity, hanging up my phone.

"No answer?" Scott asked me.

I whipped around, seeing him walking toward me in the hall. I shook my head.

"No, and I doubt there will be one any time soon," I said putting my phone in my pocket.

"Why would you say that?" Scott asked.

I shrugged, "They want to stay out of the supernatural happenings in Beacon Hills as much as possible."

He nodded. His phone beeped in his hand, alerting him to a message.

"Stiles found Lydia," he told me.

"Where are they?" I asked, moving down the hallway to find them.

"He took her to Harris's room," Scott replied.

I quickly walked down the hall to Harris's room. As I rounded the corner, I ran straight into Seth.

"There you are!" he exclaimed, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"What are you talking about? You knew where I was, I texted you," I explained, confused.

"Dude, check your phone," he said pulling me down the hall.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw that I had 5 missed texts from Seth and 3 missed texts from Isaac.

"Shit," I mumbled, "What did I miss?"

"Isaac and Boyd have a plan to protect Derek. I'm going to the loft now. I need you to keep checking in on us in case the plan goes wrong. You need to connect with both me and Isaac," Seth explained, "I don't know why I'm so worried about this plan but if something goes wrong…"

"Hey," I said, stopping him, "It's fine. I'll keep checking on you guys. Don't worry. But you have to let me in, okay?"

Seth nodded, "Okay. And I don't want you coming to the loft for any reason."

"What the hell do you guys have planned?" I asked, annoyed.

"Don't worry about it. I just want you to be safe," he said softly, "So stay here."

"I have to help Lydia and Stiles anyway," I said, brushing him off.

"Help them with what?" he asked.

"Finding Deaton," I explained. I came to the door to Harris's classroom, "Go to the loft. Keep your phone on you. I'll call if I feel anything."

Seth nodded, "Okay, thank you."

He turned to walk down the hallway. I watched him walk away until he was completely out of my sight. I sighed, and turned towards the door to the room I was about to enter. Something was going to go wrong tonight, I could feel it. But with all of the different scenarios playing out, I couldn't figure out which one was going to end badly. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Are you guys playing with a Ouija board?" I asked, observing them from the doorway.

They all looked up at me. Lydia looked amused. Cora looked annoyed. Stiles looked more spastic than ever.

"It's technically a spirit board," Stiles argued, "But it isn't working so we will move on to plan B."

"What's plan B?" I asked, moving to sit at the table.

"These are Deaton's keys," Stiles said, pulling the keys out of his pocket. When the hell did he swipe those?

"Where did you -." I started.

"The clinic," he interrupted. He turned to Lydia, "Close your eyes and I'm gonna put them in your hand. And then we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's called psychometry."

"I'm not a psychic," Lydia said looking to me, "She's a psychic. Shouldn't she be doing this?"

"You're something!" Stiles yelled, exasperated.

"Lyds, you are something like me. That's why we hear the same things sometimes. We're just trying to figure out what you are. I'll do it too if you think it'll help," I said softly to Lydia.

She shook her head. She put out her hand and closed her eyes. Stiles dropped the keys into her palm. She shivered.

"What?" he asked. I nudged him with my elbow.

"They're cold," she said, opening her eyes.

Stiles gave her a death glare, "Concentrate. Please. We are trying to save lives here for the love of God."

Lydia closed her eyes and held the keys closer to her face. She wrinkled her forehead like she was focusing really hard on what was happening. We watched her in anticipation of what she might be feeling.

"What is it?" Stiles asked softly, "What do you see?"

Lydia opened her eyes, "Nothing."

"That's okay. Shit like this doesn't usually work that well," I said, trying to comfort her.

Stiles shot me a glare, "Wow, thanks for the sage advice."

I rolled my eyes, "All I'm saying is that training for psychics doesn't involve this kind of stuff. It's reading about your power and making connections with people. Training your mind."

"Then why don't you give it a shot," Stiles argued with me.

I shook my head, "Because if she isn't actually a psychic, none of it will work. It's too long of a process anyway."

Stiles glared at me. He was mad that I was disagreeing with him, I could tell. But I wasn't going to teach Lydia everything that I had learned in the year since I found out about all of this. I still don't have a firm grasp on it. For right now, this was our best bet to find Deaton. I glared back at him, trying to convey that message.

He held up a pencil, "Plan C is automatic writing."

"Automatic writing," Lydia repeated.

Stiles nodded. Lydia took the pencil out of his hand and took a deep breath. She grabbed her notebook and began to draw something. She was kind of zoned out while she was drawing so I didn't feel the need to interrupt her.

"Lydia, what the hell is that?" Stiles asked.

"A tree," Lydia said.

"A tree?" he questioned. He looked at me and Cora. We both shrugged, "Lydia you're supposed to be writing words! Like sentences. Something like a location. Something that would tell us where Deaton is!"

"Well maybe you should have said that," Lydia argued, looking embarrassed. I grabbed her hand to comfort her.

"Isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?" Cora questioned.

"A genius, yes," Lydia said confidently, "A psychic, no. Honestly, I don't know why you're even bothering with me anyway especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."

Stiles' ears perked up at that, "Wait. What? Why Danny?"

"Because," Scott said from the doorway, "last night he was a target."

"But he wasn't a sacrifice," I finished for him, feeling that Danny needed to be protected. "Guys, we need to go to the hospital now. We have to talk to Danny. He knows something."

They all looked at me like I was crazy, except for Scott who apparently was thinking the same thing. However, they all agreed and we headed to the hospital in silence. I need to be better at picking up on these things. I'm failing epically at predicting the future.

 **Stiles' POV**

After leaving school, we drove toward the hospital. Scott got a text from Allison telling him that she found something. He went to her house to help her and we went to the hospital in the Jeep. When we got to the hospital, I told the girls to stay in the car and that I would go talk to Danny. Lydia and Cora were fine with that plan but Emma took a little bit of convincing to let me go. Eventually, she did and I began to sneak into Danny's room.

When I entered the hospital room, I saw Danny asleep in the hospital bed. I crossed the room to the other side, where his bag was. I leaned over his bed, trying to see if he was actually asleep or not.

"Danny? Danny, are you awake?" I asked, nudging his shoulder, "Danny?" I poked his face. I lightly tapped his face and he stirred in his sleep, making me jump back and bite my lip to muffle a scream.

I stayed where I was, far away from him. I bent down to look through his belongings and his bag.

"What are you doing?" his voice mumbled from above me.

I whipped my head around to look at him, "I'm not doing anything, Danny. This is just a dream that you're having."

Satisfied when he didn't respond or move again, I went back to my search. I dug through his bag some more, not really knowing what I was looking for.

"Why are you going through my stuff?" he croaked out.

"Right, but only in the dream," I tried, "Remember? Dream. Dreaming."

I went back to the task at hand.

"Why would I dream about you going through my stuff?" he asked.

"I don't know that, Danny," I snapped, "This is your dream. Take responsibility for it. Shut up and go back to sleep."

I continued to look through his bag. I found a bunch of papers that were put together with a binder clip and pulled that out. The paper was a research proposal about currents for physics.

"Oh, Danny Boy, you might've actually found something here," I said.

I left the room just how I had entered, sneakily. As I got to the hallway, my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Scott. I exited the hospital and answered the call.

"Hey, what did Allison have?" I asked.

"She found a map in her dad's office that has all of the locations of where the bodies have been found and where they will be found," he explained, frantic.

"Meaning what?" I asked.

"Meaning, he has to be at one of the six locations. But they're all over town. I don't know how we can get to all of them fast enough," he explained.

"Well, we might not have to," I said, making connections in my brain, "Danny was doing a project on something for Mr. Harris's physics class, and I think it actually means something."

"What project?" he asked.

"Some, telluric currents?" I said, looking at the report.

"Did you say currents?" Scott's voice asked, panicked.

"Yeah," I said, "Why?"

"Just, meet me at the animal clinic," he said, hanging up the phone.

"Scott?" I asked. I looked at my phone. Annoyed that he had hung up on me.

I went to the car and saw Emma looking like she was in pain.

"What's going on?" I asked the girls.

"Something bad is going to happen," Emma whispered.

"What do you mean 'something bad'?" I asked, turning her to look at me.

"I don't know. I just know that someone is going to die and I can't figure out who," she said, panting.

"We are going to the animal clinic to meet Scott, okay?" I asked cautiously, starting the car.

She nodded through the pain, wincing, "Scott. Okay. That'll help."

I nodded and pulled out of the parking lot, racing to the animal clinic. I continued to look at Emma but she wasn't getting any better. She turned to face Lydia.

"I need you to call Seth. Please warn him that someone is going to die and that he needs to be careful," she said softly.

Lydia nodded and pulled out her phone, dialing Seth's number. However, he didn't answer the call. Emma fell in her seat, defeated. Lydia continued to call him, hoping it would go through eventually. I hoped for the best. That just another sacrifice was going to die. Not Deaton, not anyone we knew or cared about. That might make it a little easier to bear.

I pulled into the parking lot of the animal clinic. We all jumped out and ran inside to meet Scott. He led us to an examination room. We all gathered around the table. I pulled Emma close to me, not letting her go. She seemed to be better after we were in the same room as Scott.

"So what does this kid's homework have to do with finding Deaton?" Cora asked.

"Because it's not just homework, okay?" I explained, "It's a project on geomagnetic fields. They flow through the Earth. They can even be affected by lunar phases." I spread out the pages from the report, "Now, look at these. This is a note from Harris on Danny's proposal."

"I strongly advise you to choose another subject. The idea's here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudoscience. Not suitable for class," Lydia read.

"Harris wasn't just a sacrifice, he knew something," Emma added.

"And check this out," I said, pulling the map out of my pocket, "Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map. Danny had one too." I spread the map out on the table, "Danny marked all of the telluric currents, okay? Now, the weird thing about Beacon Hills is that it actually is a beacon. You won't believe how much energy flowing through the Earth is around this town."

"Stiles, look," Scott interrupted, "The map." I looked to what he had pulled out from Allison's. He compared that maps for a few more minutes. "Look, there's three places. Where they are taken," he circled the map, "The place where their body was found."

"That's right on a telluric current," Lydia pointed out.

"So maybe where they are sacrificed is somewhere in between," Emma suggested.

"So there's six more bodies to be found. Deaton is one," I put an 'x' through the circle Scott had made, "Somewhere in between right?"

"Stop," Cora said, grabbing my hand. She moved my hand on the map to where it said Beacon Hills National Bank. "He's in the vault. He's in the same vault."

"Okay, we need to go to the bank and get him," I said.

We all moved to exit the examination room and run to Deaton's rescue but Lydia stopped us all.

"Wait," she said looking at her phone, "It's Seth. The plan didn't work. They cut the power."

I watched Emma's face go white with fear and worry. She shook her head frantically. "We need to go to the loft."

"It's just like he said," Scott breathed.

"Who?" Emma snapped her head towards him.

He shook his head, "Go, I can save Deaton myself."

"What?" I argued, "Scott what about us?"

"Cora and Emma can get there fast enough without you," Scott argued, "Go. We can save both of them."

"Alright, let's go," I said.

 **Emma's POV**

I hated this. I hated feeling so helpless when I was supposed to be able to save everyone. Why couldn't I figure out who was going to die? Was it because I wasn't connected to them? But if that's the case then how am I supposed to save anyone that I don't know. That seems like the most pointless power. Stiles pulled up to the loft and felt dread fill my body. I knew it this time. Someone was going to die here. Deaton would be fine.

We ran into the building and directly to the electrical room of the building.

"What do we do?" Stiles asked.

"Pull them," Cora said, "Pull all of them."

Stiles pulled out his phone and texted Isaac to tell him what was happening. I read over his shoulder as he typed. I closed my eyes and focused on both Isaac and Seth. They were fine. Their hearts were racing but they weren't injured.

And then I felt it. Like my entire body was being electrocuted. Seth, he was being electrocuted. I fell to the floor and began to shake uncontrollably.

"Emma!" Stiles yelled, picking me up.

"What's happening?" Cora yelled.

"Seth," I said. I had stopped shaking which meant that Seth had also stopped being electrocuted. He was injured but he was still breathing. I could feel that much.

Stiles put me down and we ran up the stairs to the loft. I ran ahead of the group, being motivated by fear and pain all at the same time. I came to the apartment and saw Isaac holding Miss Blake. Ethan and Aidan were holding Derek by his arms. Kali was holding Boyd up in the air.

"NO!" I yelled, going to run into the apartment. Seth stopped me.

Kali dropped Boyd onto Derek's claws. Derek realized what was happening. Boyd took a shaky breath and cried out in pain. Kali dropped Boyd's body to the ground. Derek pulled his claws out of Boyd's bloody body. I cowered into Seth's side.

"I'm giving you until the next full moon, Derek. Make the right decision. Join the pack," Kali said walking away from Derek and Boyd, "Or next time I'm killing all of you."

Kali, Ethan, and Aidan left the loft. I didn't move from my spot against Seth. Terrified that if I opened my eyes, Boyd would really be dying. I heard Boyd and Derek whispering as Boyd was dying in his arms. Derek was crying. I heard the soft sobs as they came out of his mouth. I heard the splashing of water as Boyd's body fell to the ground. It was then that I knew he was dead. Seth passed me over to Stiles who held me even tighter. I looked up to see Cora sobbing over Boyd's body. Seth was moving over to Derek, putting his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

It hit me then that anyone could have died in that moment. It could have been Isaac or Seth but it was Boyd. How were we going to stop this from happening again? How were we going to fight them when their only goal was to kill all of us or have Derek do it? I pulled Stiles closer to me, crying silently into his side. He ran his hands through my hair, trying to comfort me. How were we going to beat the alpha pack?

"You ready to go home?" Stiles whispered into my hair.

I nodded softly, "Please."

I felt him lead me out of the apartment and down the stairs. I opened my eyes so that I could see as we walked down the stairs. He still had his arm around me. He wasn't holding me as close as before but I could tell he was still worried. We exited the building and got in the Jeep.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

I shook my head, "Why didn't I know it was Boyd that was going to die?"

He grabbed my hand, "You tried your hardest. You did everything you could to help. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"But what good is this power if I can't use it to save anyone's life!" I cried.

I was so frustrated. I went to London for 4 months and trained every single day. And it got me nowhere. I wasn't any closer to stopping the alpha pack or the darach. I wasn't any help to anyone.

"Babe," he said, pulling into my driveway. He parked the car and looked at me. Taking my hands in his, "I know that this seems really hopeless right now but we will figure it out. You can talk to your grandparents and your mom. Everything will be fine."

"I wish I could be more helpful," I sighed.

"You are more helpful than you realize," he said kissing my fingers, "I promise you that I will help you figure it out. I promise that we will do research and talk to your family."

I smiled softly at him. He was the best, honestly. I don't know how I could do any of this without him.

"How do you manage to always make me feel better?" I asked softly.

He smirked, "Cause you're my girl. It's my job to make you feel better."

I laughed at him, "God, I love you."

I winced, realizing what I had said. But I watched as Stiles' eyes widened at what I had said until eventually, he smiled. He darted his tongue out to wet his lips. He looked down at our intertwined fingers, then back up at me.

"I love you too," he said softly, his breath fanning over my face.

He placed his lips on my softly. Our lips melted together in a deep kiss. His hand that wasn't holding mine, cupped my face. He pulled back when the need for oxygen was too much.

"So, fucking, much," he added softly.

He placed his forehead on mine, putting his hand behind my neck, holding me close. We sat like that for hours, holding onto each other in the Jeep. I didn't ever want to leave that moment. Sitting with the boy I loved, relishing in the calm before the storm.


	8. Chapter 8

**SMUT SMUT SMUT**

 **Wow! This is a long chapter. Lots of smut, lots of fluff. I love STEMMA.**

 **Okay, that's all! Read and Review! Thanks!**

 **I do NOT own Teen Wolf. I only own my OCs.**

 **Stiles' POV**

Derek was gone. Without a trace. We couldn't find him and Scott was starting to get antsy. Emma and I had decided that we were going to attempt to do research on where he might be hiding but so far, the internet had no information on where an alpha might go after killing one of his betas. Who knew?

I had been doing research since I got home last night. Emma ended up not being able to sleep at her own house so she came over to help me. About an hour ago, she left for training with her grandparents. She told me to sleep while she was gone but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I had just found a lead on where Derek might be. There was a cave in Northern California that wasn't too far from here. He could have gotten there in a few hours.

"Babe," Emma said as she entered the house and crossed over to where I was on the couch.

"Hmm," I hummed in acknowledgement, not stopping my research.

"Have you moved since I left?" she asked. I felt her sit next to me on the couch.

I shook my head, "No, I got a lead."

"A lead," she repeated, "And what kind of lead is this?"

I turned my computer so she could look at it. I began to type into google maps the location of the caves to see how long it would take to drive there.

"You think Derek is hiding out in some random caves in Northern California?" she questioned.

"They aren't random. Hunters have tracked wolves there. And since you and I both know that there aren't any actual wolves in California, they have to mean werewolves," I explained. I grabbed my notebook and wrote down the directions to the caves.

"Okay," she said hesitantly, "And you want to drive to these caves on the off chance that Derek is there?"

"Yes," I said, not understanding why she was questioning it.

"While I admire your need to find Derek, I think that driving four hours to a cave that he may or may not be hiding in when you haven't slept in the past 48 hours is a horrible idea," she explained.

"I'm not tired," I lied.

"Well I am," she argued. She took the laptop off of my lap. I finally looked at her. "Derek doesn't want to be found Stiles. If he did, he would open our connection so I could find him. We have to accept that."

"No," I argued, "We need to find him. I need to find him."

Her face softened, "Stiles, is something else going on?"

I ran my hand over my face and into my hair, "Ugh, no. It's just everything."

"Babe," she said softly, putting her hand on my back and moving it in small circles, "Talk to me."

"I'm literally no help to anyone," I admitted.

"What are you talking about, Stiles?" she asked, shock covering her face.

"You're biased," I pointed out, "I wasn't able to stop Derek from killing Boyd. I couldn't help us find Deaton. I haven't stopped any of these murders. I just feel like an epic failure."

"First of all," she started. She grabbed my hands and turned my body to face her, "That's bullshit. You found the map of Danny's that led us to where Deaton was. You saved Scott at the hotel. You saved Boyd, Isaac, and Ethan at the hotel too. You figure things out Stiles. You always figure it out."

"But if I can find Derek then I can make up for everything I haven't been able to do," I continued.

"But if you drive this tired, you will most likely fall asleep at the wheel and I can't have that," she said with a small smile.

"You're right," I agreed softly.

"So," she said, moving my laptop to the coffee table. She lied back on the couch, pulling me down on top of her, "Why don't we nap for a bit and then we can continue to look for Derek?"

"You'll go with me to the caves if that's where he is?" I asked, tangling my legs with hers and resting my head on her chest.

She slowly ran her fingers through my hair, lightly scratching my scalp.

"I'd go anywhere with you," she whispered.

 **Emma's POV**

I woke up to a pair of lips lightly kissing my neck. I tried to pretend I was asleep to see what Stiles would do but he began to lightly suck my neck and I couldn't stop the moan that escaped my lips.

I opened my eyes to see him smirking down at me. He had moved from his position during our nap so he was now hovering over me. His hair was a mess from him running his hands through it so much in the past two days.

"You're supposed to be napping," I said reaching up to fix his hair.

"I did nap," he pointed out, "I just woke up and was bored and lonely so I had to wake you up too."

"Oh you had to?" I asked with a laugh.

"You can go back to sleep," he said with a frown. He moved to get up from the couch.

I pulled his face back towards mine. I pressed my lips to his gently. He kissed me back with more force. His tongue began to explore my mouth. In the moment, I realized how much I wanted him. How much I needed him. Screw this waiting thing. We were soulmates. He pulled back right as I was thinking this.

"Sorry," he panted.

I shook my head. I leaned up until our lips met. Then I put my arms around his neck, pulling him down to meet me in another passionate kiss. This time, his hands moved from the couch cushion beside me to my waist and my hair. He tangled is hand in my hair, tilting my head back slightly. He pulled away from my lips and kissed down my neck. I moved my hands from his shoulders to lightly trail his chest to his hips.

His hand on my waist slowly moved up my stomach. I moved my hands from his hips to the hem of his shirt. I tugged on it and he pulled back to take it off. He crashed his lips on mine once more. His hand on my waist pulled at the hem of my shirt. I let him pull it off of my body, slightly pulling back from the kiss when it was over my head. He slowly brought his hands to my back where my bra clasp usually was, unfortunately, this bra had a front clasp. I stopped his hands and he pulled back, looking dazed.

"Sorry, did I go to far?" he asked, suddenly nervous.

I shook my head, "It opens in the front."

I took his hands to the front of my bra, in between my breasts. He looked at the clasp with confusion on his face but he quickly got to work and got the material off of me in record time. We continued making out like that for forever, just content to be with each other. But I was getting needy and desperate.

"Babe," I said, panting, "I need more."

"What do you need princess?" he said kissing down my neck and to my chest.

As he began to suck and nibble on my right breast. I moaned and my hips bucked against his in desperate need of friction. He responded by pulling away with a soft hiss. He brushed his lips against mine while grinding his hips into mine. He moved his hand from my waist to the button of my jeans. I felt his fingers slip into my waistband. He popped open the button on my jeans and slowly unzipped them. His long fingers snuck into my underwear. He curved his fingers and began to rub my clit.

"Fuck, Stiles," I moaned, biting my lip.

He pulled back from my neck, "God, I've missed this."

I ran my hand through his hair, pulling his mouth to mine. His fingers continued their rhythm on my clit. I felt myself getting close as I ground my hips against his hand.

"Stiles?" the sheriff's voice bellowed from the doorway.

Stiles and I immediately pulled apart from each other. I put my hands over my chest, realizing that I was completely bare breasted in front of the sheriff. Stiles got up from the couch and subtly handed me my shirt and my bra.

"He -hey dad," he said running a hand through his hair, "You're home early."

The sheriff sighed, "When you two are decent, could you please meet me in the kitchen?"

"Yep," Stiles said with a quick nod, glancing down at me.

I hadn't made any effort to get dressed, still completely mortified by this situation. Stiles pulled my hands away from my face.

"He's in the kitchen. You can stand up and get dressed now," he said with a smirk.

"How are you not embarrassed by this?" I asked, putting on my bra.

"Cause I wasn't the one on the verge of an orgasm," he whispered with a wink.

My jaw dropped. I quickly put my shirt on and stood up from the couch.

"You little shit," I said, crossing to him.

"Hey, we gotta go. My dad wants to talk to us remember?" he said walking towards the kitchen.

I took a deep breath and fixed my hair before following Stiles into the other room.

The sheriff looked between the two of us. Stiles with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. I can only imagine how I looked, embarrassed and flushed, shifting on my feet.

"Well this is a conversation I never thought I was going to have to have," the sheriff said avoiding eye contact.

"Why? Is this awkward or something?" Stiles asked sarcastically.

"Stiles," I hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Listen," the sheriff started, finally making eye contact, "I get that you two are young and in love or whatever but we need to make some ground rules. If you're going to be doing," he paused, trying to think of a better word for sex, "that, you are not to do it on the couch and you are to use protection. I'm too young to be a grandfather and you two are too young to be parents. Got it?"

I nodded quickly, "Yes, Sheriff Stilinski. I'm so sorry. This will not happen again."

"What do you mean by 'that'?" Stiles asked.

The sheriff glared at his son, "Stiles, you're not funny."

"I couldn't agree more," I said, glaring at Stiles.

"I'm feeling personally attacked right now," Stiles said running his hand through his hair.

"Okay, I'm going to my bedroom to sleep until I have to work the graveyard shift tonight. Please follow the rules," the sheriff said with a pointed look.

"Will do," I said grabbing Stiles' hand and pulling him into the living room.

When we got back into the living room, I grabbed Stiles' laptop from the coffee table and sat with it on my lap.

"So, we aren't going to continue what we were doing earlier?" he asked, sitting next to me.

I snapped my head to look at him, shooting him a glare.

"Not right now we aren't," I said.

"Babe, come on," he whined, resting his chin on my shoulder, "I was just trying to diffuse the situation. He wasn't even mad. He just wants us to use protection which we usually do anyway. Besides, we aren't having sex cause we're waiting, right?"

I sighed, "Yeah, you're right. We're waiting."

 **Stiles' POV**

"Ugh, why am I doing this again?" I groaned into my phone to Emma.

"Because they have answers that neither of us have," she explained.

"But why couldn't you have come with me?" I whined.

"I told you this already," she sighed, "Seth and Isaac were complaining about me not being around much anymore so to make them happy I told them I would train with them. I wish I could be there for you but to be completely honest I'm glad you're the one going to talk to Peter."

"Wow, feeling the love here babe," I scoffed, "Just promise to beat the shit of Isaac and Seth for me."

"Always," she said with a snort.

"I'll come over when I'm done. I love you," I said.

"I love you too, baby," she said softly.

I hung up the phone. Giving myself a bit of time to decompress after my call with Emma, I then got out of the Jeep and entered the loft. As much as I knew Emma was right, I still had no desire to do what I was about to do. I felt like I was selling my soul to the devil. The devil being Peter fucking Hale.

"What are you doing here?" Cora asked as I entered the loft.

"I have questions," I said, "And only you two can give me answers."

 **Emma's POV**

"Are you kidding me right now?" Isaac yelled at Seth.

"Come on, Lahey. I know you can do better than that," Seth egged him on.

The boys had called me to tell me that I was being a shitty friend lately. That if I didn't hang out with them soon, they were going to file a missing person report. While I knew that they were just being dramatic, I still felt bad for ditching them the last couple of times that they've wanted to do something. Which is why we are currently at a gym with a boxing ring. This was their new form of training I guess. Unfortunately, Isaac wasn't standing a chance against Seth. He had gotten maybe five hits in between Seth's pummeling. Isaac's mouth was covered in blood from punches to his face. While Seth was perfectly fine.

"Okay, Isaac, you need to tap out," I instructed, realizing that I had to be the 'mom' for a second.

"I'm fine," Isaac panted, bouncing on his feet.

"Your mouth is bleeding," I pointed out.

"I'll heal," he argued.

I rolled my eyes but didn't argue any further. As much as I enjoyed being invited to this training session, I also didn't really feel like fighting Seth. So, staying where I was seemed like the safest solution.

"Lahey, just tap out," Seth said after a particularly brutal hit to Isaac's head.

"I'm fine!" Isaac argued, pausing to catch his balance.

"No, you're not," I pointed out.

"Let's both take a break," Seth compromised, realizing that Isaac wasn't going to quit.

"Fine, whatever," Isaac said stepping out of the ring.

I looked over at Seth who was drinking from a water bottle in the center of the ring.

"What's his problem?" I whispered.

"I can still hear you!" Isaac yelled from across the gym.

"Okay," I said crossing my arms and turning towards him, "What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem, Emma. I was just training. Training is supposed to be hard. That doesn't mean you quit because it gets a little bloody," Isaac said sitting against the wall.

"How philosophical of you," Seth said, coming to stand next to me.

"For real though, what's going on? You seem really angry," I asked Isaac.

He shook his head, "I'm not angry. I just feel so helpless when it comes to the alphas. You saw that fight. It could have just as easily been me that Kali lowered onto Derek's claws."

I moved over next to him by the wall. I sat down in front of him.

"Isaac," I said, making him look at me, "You are not helpless. We are all clueless right now. We can't find Derek. We have no idea how to defeat the alphas. You're not alone. You have us. And Scott. And Stiles. And Cora."

"And Allison," Seth said with a wink.

"Shut up," Isaac said through gritted teeth to Seth.

"Whoa, hold up," I said looking between the two boys, "Do you have a crush on Allison?"

"No," Isaac mumbled.

"Yes, he does," Seth said with a smirk.

"Shut up, Seth," Isaac snapped, "He has a crush on Lydia!"

"That's not news," I said waving him off.

"Hold on! No, I don't!" Seth tried to argue.

Isaac and I both gave him our best, 'are you serious?' look.

"Okay, fine, I like Lydia," Seth said blushing.

I looked at Isaac expectantly.

"And I like Allison," he mumbled.

I practically squealed with glee, "Oh my god! This is great! My bros like my best friends!"

"Who are you right now?" Seth asked with a laugh.

"I'm just so full of love and it makes me so happy that you guys are also full of love!" I said dreamily.

"Whoa, no one said love," Isaac pointed out.

"Fine, not love," I said a little calmer, "At least not yet."

 **Stiles' POV**

"Derek was running through the woods. He found another werewolf but then the hunters got him. He was almost shot with an arrow but Peter stopped it at the last second. They were there for two days. Waiting. Hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us. Hide and heal," Cora explained, looking out the window.

"Okay, so, is two days standard then or are we thinking that Derek is on like so extended getaway?" I asked, pacing.

"Why do you care?" she asked, turning to face me.

"Why do you care?" I repeated, "Let's see, because over the last two weeks my best friend has tried to kill himself, his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed, a girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed, Boyd was killed by alphas, do you want me to keep going? Cause I can. For like an hour."

"You think Derek knew anything about them?" she asked, crossing to me.

"Well, since he's the one they're after, it's more like he should do something about them," I pointed out,

"I don't know," she said, "There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."

"What was he like?" I asked.

"A lot like Scott actually," Peter said, descending the stairs, finally gracing us with his presence, "A lot like most teenagers. Unbearably romantic. Profoundly narcissistic. Tolerable really only to other teenagers."

"So what happened? What changed him?" I asked.

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men," Peter said ominously, "A girl."

"You're telling me some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way that he is?" I asked astounded.

"Do you remember Derek before he was an alpha? Before he had red eyes he had blue eyes. Do you know why some werewolves have blue eyes?" Peter asked us.

"I just always thought it was a genetic thing," I admitted.

"If you wanna know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes," Peter said.

"Okay, so there was a girl?" I pushed on.

"It was his sophomore year of high school. Before the fire. Her name was Paige. She was nothing like Derek. He was the jock. The popular guy. She played the cello. Honestly, their relationship came out of annoyance. She told him off because he was being a normal teenage boy. He tried to impress her but of course, she was not interested. And you know how teenage boys are after they are rejected," Peter said with a smirk.

"No," Cora said as I nodded.

"They try even harder," I said.

"Right," Peter said.

"Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he?" I asked, "How old were you?" Peter just stared at me, "How old are you now?"

"Not as young as we could have been but not as old as you might think," he said.

"Okay, that was frustratingly vague," I said looking at Cora, "How old are you?"

"I'm 17," she said with a shrug.

"See, that, is an answer," I said with a pointed look to Peter, "That's how we answer people."

"Well, 17 how you would measure in years," Cora said.

"Okay, I'm just gonna drop it," I said finally, "What happened with Derek and the cello girl?"

"What do you think happened?" Peter asked, "They're teenagers. One minutes it's 'I hate you. Don't talk to me.' And the next it's frantic groping in any dark corner that they can manage to find themselves alone in for five minutes. Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery on the edge of Beacon Hills."

"Hold up," I said, "How do you know all of this? You just said that they were alone."

"Back then I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend. His closest confidant. That's how I know," Peter stated.

"Okay, then proceed," I said slowly.

"One particular night when they went to their secret little hideout, packs from all over the area were on their way there. Because the Argents had killed a beta in that distillery. Derek almost revealed that he was a werewolf to Paige because he caught the scent of blood from the slaughter. Luckily they got out of there before the packs arrived. They were all there though. Deucalion, Kali, Ennis, and Talia; Derek and Cora's mother. Ennis wanted revenge against the Argents for killing his beta," Peter continued. He drew a spiral on the window with his finger, "Our mark for vendetta."

"Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to like a whole other level," I said.

"It's not just revenge," Cora argued, "Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing a member of your family. It's like you lose a limb."

"They wouldn't even let him see the body," Peter told us.

"I don't get it," Cora said, "What does this have to do with Derek?"

"Everything," Peter said, finally walking away from the window, "It's never just a single moment, it's a confluence of events. Personally? I looked at Ennis' circumstances and I saw profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."

"Opportunity? To do what?" I questioned.

"To always be with her," Peter explained.

"So, he wanted Paige to have the bite?" I questioned.

Peter nodded, "I know your relationship is special but most werewolves can't make it work with humans."

"Okay, you don't have to bring my relationship into this," I said defensively, "I was just asking."

"The thing with Derek was that he had this constant fear. Always obsessing over it. Thinking about it all night and all day. Always on his mind," Peter explained.

"Thinking about what?" Cora asked.

"Her finding out about him being a werewolf. He thought she would hate him or leave him. But he thought the only solution would be for him to turn her so they could be together forever. That they were perfect for each other. I kept telling him not to do it. Everyday, the more he thought about it; the more convinced he became. You know teenagers. I bet he even blames me. He's probably convinced himself it was all my idea," Peter continued.

I looked at Cora who was glaring at Peter. I didn't know if what Peter was saying was completely true but at the moment, it was all we had to go with.

"Laura told Derek about the visiting packs. We had never seen so many alphas and emissaries in one place. He knew that Talia would never do it. He thought he had to act fast so that one of the other alphas would. He thought that the bite was the only answer. She wouldn't get sick, she could protect herself, and they could be together," Peter informed us.

"What's an emissary?" I asked.

"A druid that is assigned to a pack. They are important advisors to packs. Ours was Deaton," Peter explained.

"They keep us connected to humanity," Cora added, "But they are a secret even in a pack. Sometimes the alpha is the only one who knows who the emissary is. Derek and I had no idea about Deaton."

"Or his sister, Morrel," Peter added.

"She's an emissary too?" I asked surprised.

"For the alpha pack," Peter replied.

"Our guidance counselor?" I asked, now feeling very out of the loop, "Why the hell don't you people tell me any of this stuff? I shared some really intimate details with her."

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora asked.

"Actually, yeah," I said.

"That's what they do," Peter explained, "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia."

"So, he helped all of the alphas back then?" I asked.

"Surprisingly, Deucalion wanted to extend an olive branch to the Argents. He wanted to end all of the fighting. So Deaton and Talia were giving him advice," Peter explained.

"Again, what does this have to do with Derek?" Cora asked.

"Derek had convinced Ennis to bite Paige. He left a note for Paige to meet him at the school. He was setting her up to be attacked by Ennis. He was waiting in the locker room. Waiting until he could hear that it was over. He couldn't face what was happening to her," Peter continued.

"Ennis? Why him?" Cora asked.

"Why not? Ennis needed a new beta for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant that Ennis would be good with Talia. And back then, everyone wanted to be in good with her," Peter explained.

"He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" I asked.

"If he does, he keeps it to himself," Peter replied.

"So then what happened? Did he turn her?" I asked.

"Almost," Peter said vaguely, "He came at Ennis. A 15-year-old boy against a giant. But it was a waste for him to fight. She had already been bitten."

"So did she turn?" Cora asked.

"She should have," Peter explained, "Most of the time the bite takes. Most of the time."

"When you offered it to me, you said if it doesn't kill you," I remembered.

"If," Peter said simply.

"So then what?" Cora tried to urge him on.

"I found them where we hid from the hunters. He asked me what was happening to her, but he already knew. Some people just aren't made for this. She fought. She struggled desperately, trying to survive," Peter continued, "Ultimately, Derek was the one to kill her so she wouldn't suffer anymore. I remember taking her body to the woods where I knew it would be found. Another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."

"And what about Derek?" Cora asked with tears in her eyes.

"Taking an innocent life takes something from you as well. A bit of your soul. Darkening it. Dimming the once brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue. Like mine," Peter said, flashing his blue eyes.

 **Emma's POV**

"Hey girl," Lydia said pushing past me into my house.

"Hey Lyds," I said confused, "What's up?"

"We are having a girls night," she explained with a smile.

"Oh, really?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Yep! I already cleared it with your mom. Ally is on her way here. She was doing something with Scott. We are going to gossip, watch romantic comedies, eat junk food, and talk about boys," Lydia explained.

"Lyds, I don't really know if -," I started.

"Please, Emma," she begged, "I need this. So does Ally."

I nodded, "Okay then. What movies did you rent?"

She clapped happily, "The Notebook, A Cinderella Story, and The Proposal!"

"All great choices," I said laughing.

The doorbell rang. I turned to answer the door. Allison was standing on the porch with grocery bags in her hands.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, "I got ice cream and pizza!"

I moved aside so she could enter the house. We went to the kitchen so we could put the pizza in the oven and the ice cream in the freezer. As much as I felt like I was being ambushed, I kind of liked the idea of a girls' night. Nothing but us. No supernatural bullshit. We definitely deserved it.

"How was Scott?" Lydia asked Allison with a wink.

"Before you get any ideas, you horndog, we went to visit Gerard," Allison explained.

"Ew, why?" I asked.

"Scott thought he could help us fight Deucalion," she explained with a sigh.

"And?" I asked.

"It's a really long boring story," Allison replied.

"Fair enough," I said with a snort.

"Okay, but you still didn't answer my question," Lydia pointed out, "Are you guys getting back together?"

"Cause we went to visit Gerard?" Allison questioned, "No! Besides I think I like someone else."

"Oh my god! Who? Tell me everything!" Lydia squealed.

Allison looked at me, "Emma, we're alone right now, right?"

"Yeah," I said with a smile as she relaxed a bit, "I don't know where Seth and Isaac are, I just know that they aren't here."

Allison sighed, "Okay, um, I think I might like Isaac."

I laughed. This was too perfect. Allison and Isaac liked each other but both of them were to afraid to tell each other.

"What's so funny?" Lydia asked with a smirk.

"Nothing," I said waving her off, "I just find it ironic that you two like the only guys besides Stiles that I've ever been with."

Lydia and Allison stared at me before erupting into laughter.

"Oh my god! That's so true!" Allison said through giggles.

"At least we're keeping it in the family," Lydia said laughing.

We all laughed until we had stomach aches. Once the pizza was done, we went up to my room and settled in with the first romantic comedy of the night, The Notebook.

 **Stiles' POV**

"What?" Cora asked once we were alone, "What's this look on your face?"

"What look?" I asked.

"The kind of look that makes me want to punch you," she said sharply.

"God, you are so Derek's sister," I mumbled.

"What is with the look?" she asked again.

"I just don't believe him," I admitted, "In Miss Blake's class we're reading _Heart of Darkness_. And it's in first person, right? Narrated by Marlow. The thing is, he is an unreliable narrator. You know that the details of it have changed because of his perspective."

"Well, then we heard the story from Peter's perspective," she argued.

"Right," I agree, "But I don't think we got the whole story."

"So, what? Are you just going to ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?" she asked.

"If I have to, yeah," I replied.

She shook her head at me, "You must have death wish."

"No, I just want to know the truth," I said, standing up to leave.

"If you find Derek, let me know," she said softly, "I came back for my brother. Not my narcissistic uncle."

I nodded and waved goodbye. For some reason, hearing Derek's story of young love; regardless of its truth; made me want to find the girl I loved and hold her. I know it's corny but the fact that Derek might have loved this girl so much that he got an alpha to bite her in an attempt to be with her forever made me feel like I was lacking as a boyfriend. Sure, his plan ended up going haywire and she died but he's motivations weren't completely lost on me. I pulled up to Emma's house. There were multiple cars in the driveway including Lydia's. Why didn't she tell me that she was having people over? I marched up the driveway and knocked on the door.

"Stiles," Lydia said with a cock of her head, "Didn't you know that boys aren't allowed during girls' nights?"

"Well, since I didn't know you guys were having a girls' night, no," I said crossing my arms.

"Well, we are. So, you need to leave," she said with a laugh.

"Lydia, let me talk to my girlfriend please," I said with a sigh.

She rolled her eyes but stepped aside so I could enter the house. Seth and Isaac were playing a video game in the living room. Lydia walked into the kitchen so I followed her, assuming Emma was in there too.

"She's in her room," Seth said, not even looking at me.

"Thanks, man," I said through gritted teeth.

I took the stairs two at a time. This whole situation was putting me on edge. I knocked on Emma's door, opening it before she could respond. She was sitting on her bed and when she saw it was me at the door, a wide grin spread across her face. Allison was sitting on her floor, intently watching a movie.

"Ally, can you pause the movie?" Emma asked.

Allison's head snapped toward Emma. She grabbed the remote and paused the movie. She then looked over at the door and saw me.

"Oh," she said, getting up, "I'm gonna go see if Lydia needs help with the ice cream."

"Why don't you hang out with Isaac while you're down there?" Emma said with a wink.

Allison flipped her off, "I'll just leave you two alone." She left the room, closing the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked happily, crossing over to me, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"What's happening in your house right now?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a step back.

"Well Lydia answered your door and told me that I couldn't come in because it was a girls' night but the minute I come in, I am met with Isaac and Seth playing a video game, and I'm just really confused about why you didn't tell me about our change in plans," I rambled.

"Shit," she said, running her hand through her hair, "I forgot you were coming over after the loft. Lydia surprised me with this girls' night thing and since Seth and Isaac seem to only think with their dicks, they won't leave the house."

"Think with their dicks?" I repeated.

"Oh, yeah. So Seth and Lydia like each other, which we already knew. But I found out today that Isaac and Allison like each other. Basically, I feel like Seth and Isaac are only here because they want to hang around their crushes until something happens," she explained.

"Oh," I said softly, suddenly feeling like a jealous asshole. Neither of the guys downstairs wanted my girlfriend.

"You were jealous, weren't you?" Emma asked running her hands down my chest.

"No," I scoffed. She quirked an eyebrow at me, "Fine, so what if I was?"

She stood on her tip toes and gently kissed my lips, "That's sweet, Stiles."

"I'm not sweet," I whined.

"Oh, really? What are you then?" she asked through a smile.

"I'm a hot, manly man," I argued.

She laughed, "You are that too."

I pressed my lips to hers. I felt her arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer. She gently forced my mouth open with her tongue, deepening the kiss. I put my hands on her waist, slowly lowering them to grab her ass. She moaned into my mouth. She kissed down my jaw and to my throat, slowly sucking near my Adam's apple.

"Can – can I ask you something?" I asked through pants.

She slowly pulled away from my neck and looked at me with wide eyes. Her pupils were blown with lust. I knew I was going to kill the mood with the question but I needed to know.

"Anything," she said softly.

I closed my eyes, "Did you, or do you, ever wish that I had accepted the bite from Peter? That I was a werewolf too?"

I opened my eyes when I felt her hand on my jaw. She had a small smile on her face.

"Never," she said, "You're the one thing in my life that always feels normal. I'm not a werewolf around you or a psychic around you unless we are working on some supernatural case. And even then, I'm your girlfriend before all of that. I wouldn't trade that for the world. I love you no matter what you are."

I smiled, "Really?"

"Really," she said leaning up to kiss me again.

I moved my hands from her waist to the back of her neck, deepening the kiss. I pulled back, kissing her jaw, down her neck, to her collarbone, leaving little love bites along the way.

"Do you want to pick up where we left off earlier?" she breathed, swallowing a moan when I got to her sweet spot.

"Right now?" I asked, panting.

She nodded, biting her lip, "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day."

I raised my eyebrows at her, "Really?"

"Fuck yes, Stiles," she said kissing my neck, "You left me on the brink of orgasm with your god damn fingers. I even tried to get myself off but it wasn't the same."

I lightly pushed her off of me, "Wait, you masturbated to me?"

"Yeah," she said blushing, "Is that too much information?"

"No," I said quickly, "That's fucking hot."

I crashed my lips to hers again. I walked her backwards slowly until her knees hit her bed. She sat down and quickly laid out on the bed. I hovered over her body, letting my hands roam over her laid out form. I pulled her shirt off her body. I kissed down her neck, to her chest, kissing between her breasts. I unhooked her bra and tore it from her body, throwing it to the floor.

"What do you think about when you're touching yourself?" I asked between kisses.

She swallowed, "I think about your hands and your fingers. I'm so attracted to your hands. They're so veiny and perfect. And your fingers, fuck, you curl them just right when they're inside of me."

I moaned. I didn't know she thought that about my hands but good to know I'm doing something right.

"What else?" I asked, continuing to kiss and massage her breast, taking my time with every inch of her.

"Your tongue," she breathed, "When you go down on me, you set just the right pace with your tongue and your fingers. And you always pay close attention to my clit until I'm putty in your hands."

"Fuck," I moaned, continuing down her torso.

"And your cock," she moaned, "God, I fucking love your cock. It fills me up so well. I don't ever want to be without it. You're so big and you know just how to use it to hit the spot in me that makes me see stars."

"God, princess, I want you so bad right now," I said looking up at her.

"Then take me," she said with lust blown pupils.

"But what about everyone downstairs?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Give 'em a show."

That was all I needed to push me forward. I grabbed the neck of my t-shirt, ripping it off of my body and throwing it to the floor. I hooked my fingers in the waist of her leggings, tugging them down her legs along with her panties. I kissed the inside of her thighs, slowly teasing my way up to where I knew she needed me the most. I slowly licked a stripe up her folds. She let out a whimper. I slowly entered one finger into her, attaching my thumb to her clit. She hissed and raised her hips off the bed. I moved my other hand to her hip, holding her to the bed.

"Stay still, princess," I breathed.

"Fuck," she moaned.

I entered one more finger. Removing my thumb from her clit, I began to massage the nub with my tongue. Sucking and gently biting it, making her arch her back and moan. I pumped my fingers in and out in rhythm with my flicking of her clit with my tongue. I looked up at her to see that her eyes were closed and she was biting her lip. I moved my hand from her hip to massage her breast.

"If I'm giving them a show, you can't keep your moans in," I said with a smirk.

"Fuck, Stiles," she almost screamed.

I went back to work on her clit. I felt her clench around my fingers a couple of times, her sign that she was close. I gently nibbled her clit.

"Oh my god, Stiles. Keep doing that," she moaned.

I continued, increasing the speed of my fingers. Her hands were in my hair, tugging at the roots. I moaned against her at the feeling. Soon, she was shaking and screaming my name. Her juices flowed out of her and I lapped all of them up until she was done. I pulled my fingers out of her and sucked them clean. I slowly kissed back up her body, stopping to kiss her breasts until her nipples were hardened nubs. She put her hand behind my neck and pulled me up to her lips.

"Fuck, Sti," she said panting.

"Worth the wait?" I asked grinning.

She nodded, "I find it really hot when you call me princess."

"Oh yeah?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah," she said with a groan, kissing me.

I kissed her back with force. As hot as that was to please her like that and her telling me about what she thinks about when she's alone, my dick is about ready to burst. Suddenly, she is flipping us so that she is straddling me while we kiss. I pull back when she starts to grind her hips on mine.

"Fuck, princess. If you don't stop that, I'm gonna cum," I panted, grabbing her hips to still them.

"What if that's what I want?" she asked with a smirk.

"You want me to cum in my pants?" I asked, confused.

"Not your pants," she said, she leaned so she was right next to my ear, "Me."

I moaned, "I thought you wanted to wait."

"We did wait. But we love each other and life is short," she explained with a shrug.

I leaned up to catch her lips with mine. I kissed her gently, trying to tell her how much I love her.

"You're sure?" I asked, pulling away.

She nodded, "I love you, Stiles."

"I love you too, Emma," I said before going back to kissing her.

She moved her hands to the waistband of my jeans. She unbuttoned them and pulled them down my legs along with my boxers. She sat back on my thighs, grabbing my cock with her hand, pumping it a few times.

"Oh, god," I moaned.

"Tell me what you want, Stiles," she breathed.

I bit my lip to stop another moan. I was so into this dirty talking side of her. Telling me what she wanted and making me tell her what I wanted. God, who knew communication could be so sexy?

"I want to be inside of you, princess," I moaned, "I want you to ride me until I'm filling you with my cum."

She moaned. She moved back up to my cock. She lined herself up with my dick, slowly lowering herself. She moaned when I bucked my hips up without warning. She began to bounce up and down on my cock. I lost myself, watching her breasts bounce as she went up and down on my dick. I sat up and took one of her breasts into my mouth, sucking and lightly biting on her nipple. She threw her head back in a moan.

"I fucking love your tits," I said moving to the other one.

"I can tell," she said through moans.

I started to raise my hips to meet hers as she came down. She screamed out and grabbed onto my shoulders. I continued to meet her thrusts with my own. I moved one of my hands in between us to give her clit some attention. I made circles against her clit as she continued to ride me, still sucking on her tits.

"Fuck, Stiles, I'm gonna cum," she moaned.

I moved my hand from her clit and went back to thrusting up into her. I held onto her hips, keeping her in place as I thrusted upwards. She continued to moan out my name. I felt myself getting close. She moved her own hand down and began to massage her clit. That view was enough for me, I came undone immediately. I continued to thrust into her, riding out my high and helping her chase hers. She came soon after, shaking in my arms.

I waited until she stilled before I pulled out of her. I got out of the bed and went to her bathroom. I grabbed a towel and wiped off my cock. I grabbed my boxers from the floor and threw them on before getting back in bed with the towel to clean up.

She gave me a soft kiss as I cleaned her with the towel, "Thanks, baby."

"No problem, princess," I said with a wink.

She laughed, "I love you."

"I love you too," I said kissing her.

Her phone started to vibrate against her nightstand. She reached over my body to grab it. I groaned at the sight of her naked body stretched out with her breasts on display.

"It's Lydia," Emma said with a laugh.

"Oh shit," I said, "I completely forgot that they were here."

"Yeah, me too," she said blushing.

"What did Lydia say?" I asked.

"Apparently she convinced them to go to the store for ice cream toppings when Ally went downstairs so they haven't even been here the entire time. But they're on their way back now so we should probably get dressed," she explained.

"Ugh," I groaned, "Okay. I'll let you get back to your girls' night."

"Wait," she said, stopping me from getting out of bed, "You can at least stay for ice cream."

"Okay," I said, "If you insist."

"I do," she said with a smile.

I walked around her room, finding all of her clothing before handing it to her so she could get dressed. I found my own clothing and began to do the same. I had just put my shirt on when I felt her arms around my waist. I brought her hands up to my lips, kissing them.

"I don't know what I would do without you," I admitted.

She turned me around to face her, "You don't ever have to know what that's like."

I leaned down and gently kissed her lips, "Come on, let's get downstairs before the riff-raff gets back."

We were walking down the stairs right as everyone was coming in the front door. We all made eye contact. Lydia had a knowing smirk on her face while everyone else looked uncomfortable.

"Hi, guys," Lydia said.

"Hey, what kind of toppings did you guys get?" Emma asked, trying to be casual.

"I like that we just aren't going to address the elephant in the room," Seth said with a laugh.

"What elephant?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck.

"Seth," Lydia warned, "Let them be. They're young and in love. Let them do what they want."

"They can do what they want, I just don't wanna hear it," Seth pointed out.

"Well then it's a good thing that Lydia made you guys go to the store to get ice cream toppings," Emma said with an innocent smile.

"Yeah, for all you know we could have been fighting or playing a board game or something," I said.

They all looked at me like I was crazy. Isaac and Seth started to laugh. Allison and Lydia joined them. Emma was smiling at me.

"Come on, let's go make ice cream sundaes," Isaac said, leading the group into the kitchen.

Emma and I hesitated in the living room. She was still looking at me with that smile.

"What?" I asked softly.

"You just amaze me," she said honestly.

"Aw, babe," I said wrapping my arms around her and kissing the top of her head.

"Guys!" Lydia yelled, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen, "We have all of the ingredients. There is no reason for us to leave now. So ya'll need to take a break from that, okay? Come make sundaes with your friends!"

Emma laughed, "We'll be right there, Lyds."

She walked into the kitchen, disappearing from view. I took a deep breath and followed her. It was time to eat ice cream sundaes with our friends.


End file.
